Asagaya Tanabata Matsuri

Asagaya has been holding its own distinctive Tanabata festival for 70 years now – complete with extravagant kusudama ornaments and a colourful curtain of wind-swept streamers, but the event has moved with the times. In recent years, the papier-mâché decorations dangling from the ceiling of the Pearl Center shopping arcade have included modern characters like Godzilla, Chiikawa, Buzz Lightyear and even Donald Trump.

The decorations are there to be seen all day long, but many people wait until dusk to go and enjoy them. That's when the shopping street comes alive with a host of food and drink stalls offering Japanese festive fare.