home | day by day | photos | weill.org |
On August 8, I went with my host mother to the Tanabata festival near Asagaya train station. Tanabata are slips of paper on which people write their wishes, and then hang on bamboo trees. However, what is typically a quiet one-day affair has blossomed into a six-day festival of consumerism, food, and drinking. I did a little more shopping, but it was more like a sidewalk sale than a traditional festival.