HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Tanabata Paper Umbrella-making in Sendai
Use washi paper from Sendai's famous Tanabata Festival streamers to create a one-of-a-kind traditional umbrella
Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
Every year in August, Sendai City is filled with color during the city’s renowned Tanabata Festival, which celebrates the one day a year the deities and lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet by crossing the Milky Way.
During the three days of celebrations, Sendai’s shopping streets and covered arcades are decked out with thousands of beautiful handmade decorations featuring long washi paper streamers that flutter in the wind.
Create your own Japanese-style umbrella using your choice of colorful washi from the decorations. Domestically produced and strong, washi can resist wind and even rain. By reusing the paper to make other crafts instead of disposing of the paperit, by reusing it to make other crafts we give a second life to this traditional resource.
Your instructor will help you cut and paste the paper onto the umbrella’s wooden frame. Add your own designs with paint or let the beauty of the material shine through. Besides using the umbrella as an accessory, you can also turn it into a unique decoration for your home by placing a lamp behind it to see the paper glow with color.
How to get there
Sendai Station is 1 hour 30 minutes on the Tohoku or Akita Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. From Sendai Station, take the JR Line to Toshogu Station (about 4 minutes), and from there it is a 6-minute walk to the workshop.
3-9-38 Miyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi-ken
