In the summer of 2009, the Discover Nikkei team worked with other Japanese American National Museum staff, interns, volunteers, and their families and friends to make seven large fukinagashi decorations for the 1st Annual Los Angeles Tanabata Festival.

The daunting task of folding over 2,000 flowers out of tissue paper was made possible with the help of LOTS of people who took them home to complete and would bring bag bags full of flowers. There were boxes and boxes filled with different colored flowers used to make the final kazari.

The black flowers were used to create the hair and features for two kokeshi fukinagashi. The white was used for the faces. The purple was used for a JANM logo fukinagashi, as well as one of the colors on the other decorations.

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Photo courtesy of the Discover Nikkei Team (2009)