People in northern Japan have created giant streamer decorations as a way of wishing for a better future.

Each year residents of Sendai city hang the streamers as part of the Tanabata Festival.

This year, locals celebrated the festival in the midst of a heatwave.

In one decoration, Sendai’s 80,000 elementary and junior high school students hung paper cranes together.

A student says she wants people to know how hard they are trying to rebuild from the devastating 2011 tsunami disaster.

The tsunami hit the coast near Sendai, killing thousands.

Sendai expects about two-million visitors over the next three days of the festival.