Tanabata Festivals, or Star Festivals, are basically held around Tanabata Day, July 7th. It is based on the Chinese myth about the star Vega and the star Altair. But some festivals in some regions take place in August according to the lunar calendar. It is said that your wish will come true when you wish upon stars on Tanabata Day.

Warabi Hata Matsuri, held in a city next to my city, is one of the festivals which are is held in August, although the Tanabata festival takes place in July in my city. I can wish upon stars twice a year. What a lucky guy I am.

Click below and check the description to learn more about the Chinese myth and Tanabata!
http://youtu.be/QDzpNXClChA

And here is the video of Tanabata Festival in my city!
http://youtu.be/qs-Kk_G2N_o

Tanabata is probably my favorite festival, so I was happy to see that you filmed the festivals in both Warabi and Kawaguchi =)

Tatara Festival, the largest annual festival in Kawaguchi City, my hometown, takes place at Kawaguchi Motorcycle Race Circuit every first weekend of August. The name of the festival originates from 'tatara', the traditional Japanese furnace, since the city was once known as the center of the casting industry. The industry has been declining for these several decades and the city is now serving as one of the bedroom suburbs of Tokyo, but this festival name reminds its citizens of what the city was like.

A lot of performances and events are held in the festival including mikoshi or portable shrines, fireworks and exhibitions relating to the indigenous industry. Numerous people fully enjoy them in the middle of summer every year.

What a lively festival!

I really like your coverage of the mikoshi in the video. Also, seeing all the food stands there made my mouth water. Do you have any favorite foods that you usually eat at this festival?

Itabashi Fireworks Festival and Todabashi Fireworks Festival take place across the Arakawa River, which divides Tokyo Metropolis and Saitama Prefecture, at the same time every summer. They are often treated as one festival and called 'Itabashi/Todabashi Fireworks Festival'. Over 10,000 colorful fireworks light up the summer night sky and about a half million people enjoy the spectacle every year. The scene of fireworks being set off from two sites across the river like a competition is truly a remarkable sight.

I used to go see this festival when I was a kid with my family and my aunt's family, whose house was near the festival sites. Although I went to three fireworks festivals this summer and this one was not as large as Sumida River Fireworks Festival, one of the three, I liked this one the best. which has been It's the one I'm most familiar to me with since my childhood.

Yet another great video :)

Amazing finale at the end.

My name is Serena. I'm come from Taiwan, so my native language is Taiwanese and Chinese. I would like to improve my English listening and speaking skills. If someone has the same goal, I think we can be friends :)

Handheld fireworks are one of the traditional toys in Japan which are usually enjoyed in summer. Japanese kids look forward to playing with them during their summer vacation. But of course small kids are not allowed to play with them without an adult around.

My five-year-old nephew begs me to play with the fireworks with him every time he comes to visit me during his vacation. This is a kind of video snapshots compilation of clips of (*) when he came to visit me the other day.

(*) snapshot = a still photograph (so a video snapshot would be a still photograph taken with a video camera)

Your nephew looks like he had a lot of fun =)

I could watch those fireworks for hours, it's kind of mesmerizing.

Tsutaya, the largest music and video rental chain in Japan, was the first company which implemented the idea of selling books at video rental stores.

They opened 'Daikanyama T-Site' at in the Daikanyama area, of Tokyo, a stylish commercial complex centering on its large bookstore. You can browse books sitting on a chair or a sofa before buying them at the store.

The facility has various stores: restaurants, cafes, a clinic, a toy store, a dog salon, a camera store, an electric power-assisted bike store, and so on. It would be a good idea to enjoy shopping after browsing and buying books or read a book you bought with while drinking good coffee at a cafe.

I love Tsutaya, but I don't think I would want to visit this place. Why? Because I would be too tempted to buy more books than I could ever read (ただでさえ積読がね・・・) ;D

It looks beautiful though. Do you visit there often?

Kyu Asakura House, located near Daikanyama Station, Shibuya, is one of the a handful of traditional Japanese-style houses in central Tokyo. It was built in 1919 by Torajiro Asakura, the chairperson of the Tokyo Council.

The quaint house is designated as a nationally important cultural property and is now managed by Shibuya Ward. You can visit and see a part of its buildings and its stunning garden. It's the right place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.

Wow, it's really breathtaking. I recently started making a list of places to see when I visit Japan. I find myself adding new places to that list every time I watch your videos, heheh.

I am learning English, because I want to get a high grade on my postgraduate exam. Haerbing(*) is a beautiful city, and I really want to go there. Once there is a chance, maybe I can have take a trip to Russia. It will be wonderful.

(*) The English spelling of the city is "Harbin"