Before the Parade

Taken in Ginza on May 5th. For the past seven years, Ginza has held a Willow Festival on Nishi-Ginza Street on this day. The festival was originally launched to commemorate the planting of the willow trees that line the street (rather flimsy excuse, no?), but has no settled loosely on a "regional culture appreciation" theme.  

 

The festival kicked off with a parade at noon. Since I was at lunch in a nearby building, I missed the actual parade, but here you can see all the media journalists on the left, and the police cars readying themselves on the right. The crowds may look sparse in the photo, but there were over a million visitors last year, and judging by the 15 minutes it took to cross the street after my lunch, this year was no different.