Slip into a hot spring and feel the warmth slowly seep into your core, easing your body and melting your worries away. Each spring has its own unique mineral qualities, making it tempting to hop from bath to bath and savor each one.

Soak it all in with this collection of illustrations featuring hot springs.

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Food stalls lit by glowing lanterns, brilliant fireworks coloring the night sky, and characters laughing together in yukata… Bustling, colorful illustrations of Japanese summer festivals fill you with joy just by looking at them.

Join in on the festivities with this collection of illustrations featuring summer festivals.

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With a resounding boom, colorful fireworks burst across the night sky, a symbol of summer that captivates the heart in a fleeting moment of brilliance. Illustrations featuring characters wearing yukata enjoying these vibrant displays evoke the charm of a quintessential Japanese summer night.

Let your colors burst with this collection of illustrations featuring fireworks.

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July 7th is Tanabata, the Japanese “star festival.” This holiday originates with the bittersweet legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi, two lovers separated by the Milky Way who are allowed to meet just once a year on Tanabata. In illustrations, the magic of Tanabata comes to life through the colorful paper strips on which wishes are written, star-studded skies, and characters in yukata making heartfelt wishes beneath the heavens.

Celebrate Tanabata with this collection of illustrations.

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Yukata are a lightweight type of kimono and a staple of Japanese summers. They shine brightest at festivals, set against a backdrop of dazzling fireworks and the glow of colorful festival stalls.

Get wrapped up in this collection of illustrations.

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Swaying gently in the breeze, wind chimes produce delicate, soothing sounds that instantly evoke a cool summer breeze. With delicately painted glass surfaces, they’re a treat for the eyes as well as the ears, making them one of summer’s most charming traditions.

Just looking at this collection of illustrations will have you hearing the gentle music of wind chimes.

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If there’s one thing that can momentarily help you forget the heat and humidity in Japan, it’s summer festivals! With their endless rows of food stalls, festival games such as goldfish scooping and ring tossing, and traditional performances, summer festivals are the perfect place to unleash your inner child. If you’re lucky, you might even get to see some gorgeous fireworks light up the sky!

Have you ever experienced any summer festivals in Japan? If not, feel free to live vicariously through the characters below!

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While grand, explosive fireworks might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s still a way you can enjoy those colorful wonders without the loud booming sounds. Enter handheld fireworks! While these sparklers might not be flashy, they have a unique charm, and their fragility requires you to hold them still lest the sparks drop too soon. In the silence surrounding the fire, you may find yourself mesmerized by their fleeting beauty and thinking wistfully of all the memories you made that summer.

Keep scrolling to get a glimpse of some summer magic that’s sure to light up your day!

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What sounds remind you of summer? If you grew up with wind chimes, you might associate their crisp, tinkling sound with the summer heat, usually followed by a gentle breeze that softens the blow. And if you’ve watched enough anime, you may recall an episode or two in the Japanese countryside, with the main character lounging on the porch, feeling the breeze tickle their hair while listening to the sounds of crying cicadas and wind chimes. They also come in beautiful designs that make you feel like you’re gazing into a miniature fish bowl or glass dome speckled with fireworks!

Enjoy the following illustrations—if you try hard enough, you can almost hear the sound of summer!

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Tired of the T-shirt and shorts combo or summer dresses? If you’re looking to step up your summer outfit game, look no further than yukata, kimono’s breezy, casual cousin! Typically made of lighter material like cotton or linen, this traditional clothing is most commonly seen at festivals during the summer. They also come in a range of colors and patterns, which are just as delightful to behold as the fireworks in the sky!

If you’ve never worn a yukata, perhaps the illustrations below will change your mind!

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Do the stars ever remind you of someone you haven’t met in a long time or only get to see a few times a year? Perhaps it has something to do with Orihime and Hikoboshi, the star-crossed lovers that Tanabata is all about! Once a year, on July 7th, the lovers reunite for a single night after being separated by the Milky Way for the rest of the year. According to legend, if it rains on Tanabata, the lovers must wait another year to meet, and the rain on this day is likened to the tears of Orihime and Hikoboshi.

To celebrate their reunion, people usually write wishes on colorful strips of paper called tanzaku and hang them on bamboo, sometimes alongside other decorations. The sight can be incredibly poetic, and you never know when your wish may come true.

We hope you enjoy these lovely illustrations capturing the essence of Tanabata! Who do you hope to be reunited with this summer?

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When life gets busy, the first thing to go out the window is often self-care, such as exercise or calming baths. Today, we’re here to remind you that taking care of yourself shouldn’t be a luxury, and you deserve nice things too! Hot springs or onsen is one of the ways you can treat yourself to some much-needed downtime—even better if you make it a day trip or weekend getaway! After a grueling week, a good long soak, gorgeous scenery, and delectable food are bound to be the perfect balm for your soul.

Today, we have a series of illustrations that hopefully feel like a warm and restorative hug. Enjoy!

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The bright and colorful bursts that fireworks produce have a way of evoking all sorts of emotions in people. Perhaps due to the fact that they’re typically the finale for events like fairs and parades, they can serve as a thrilling and heartwarming conclusion to a wonderful day. Now, with more advanced pyrotechnical know-how, all sorts of colors and even patterns can briefly shine in the night sky like the stars themselves.

Tsurumaru Kuninaga (from Touken Ranbu) looks as though he may be looking at something even more beautiful than the erupting fireworks behind him.

Has seeing any of the illustrations below caused some emotions to burst to the surface?

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Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is one of the summer’s biggest summer events in Japan. According to folklore legend, the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi are lovers who are separated by the Milky Way. Tanabata falls on the seventh day of the seventh month (July 7th) and celebrates the one day a year when they’re reunited! 

While specific customs for the event vary from region to region, the act of writing wishes on slips of paper and hanging them from bamboo is a longstanding tradition. This festival was the inspiration for Jirachi (from the Pokémon franchise) who’s bashfully peeking out of the colorful decorations.

Have a look at some of the beautiful art below, if you wish. 

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Have you ever enjoyed playing with sparklers during your childhood? These bright, colorful, and relatively safe mini-fireworks have a cheerful glow that keeps some of our best summer memories alight. Lighting a few and waiving them about is a popular summertime activity in countries like Japan and the U.S. If you have plans to have some this summer, be sure to have a bucket of water on hand, just in case.

There’s certainly a warm summertime glow surrounding Narita Taishin (from Umamusume: Pretty Derby) as she enjoys her sparkler.

Have you been dazzled by any of the illustrations below?

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During the summer months in Japan, festivals are all the rage. Of course, one must be dressed appropriately for any occasion, and there’s nothing more appropriate than the summer kimono known as a yukata.

They come in all sorts of patterns, some cool and basic like black and brown, to more colorfully vivid patterns that are a real treat to behold. Yukatas are worn by men and women, young and old, so if you’re ever interested try one out for yourself!

Having a name that suits her surroundings to a tee, Nice Nature (from Umamusume: Pretty Derby) has written down her summer wish. Who knows what it could be?

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