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Hello Kitty and Obama in a DeLorean? Anything floats at the Asagaya festival
Obama, Mario and Pokemon go on parade in this grass-roots (and possibly copyright-infringing) Tokyo version of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Hallowed halls -- Hello Kitty reimagined as Rei Ayanami from science-fiction anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion" shares float space with the U.S. president. Wonder if the DeLorean classifies as part of the U.S. 'cash for clunkers' program? After all, it needs a staggering 1.21 jigawatts of juice. (Photo by Patrick Benny)Where else can you see U.S. President Barack Obama casually sharing space with Pokemon, Yoshi and other famed Japanese characters? These great pictures come from blogger Patrick Benny on the final day of the Asagaya Tanabata Matsuri.
Tanabata -- the romantically themed Japanese star festival -- is traditionally celebrated on July 7, but Asagaya does everything a month later in recognition of the old Japanese calender system.
During the festival's five days, the entire Asagaya shopping arcade is decked out in colorful Tanabata streamers. The festival, however, is most famous for the giant papier-mâché recreations of popular cartoon characters -- each made by a different store in the arcade. This year saw Pokemon, Mario, Yoshi, selected characters from "Dragon Quest," Dora, and the DeLorean DMC-12 made famous in "Back to the Future."
Despite being an actual human being, U.S. President Barack Obama was also re-created as a festival float. Hopefully he realizes the full extent of this honor.
