Tradition met innovation at this year’s Hozuki-ichi, or Chinese lantern plant fair, in Tokyo's Asakusa district.
At some 220 stalls set up at Sensoji temple, nighttime visitors admired row upon row of the brilliant orange and red plants under the crisp light of energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs.
Event organizers said they made the switch to LED bulbs to conserve energy, and the choice has proved popular on an aesthetic level as well.
Reiko Kato, 43, who came to the fair from Higashi-Murayama in western Tokyo, said, "The colors of the plants show up beautifully in the light."
According to officials at the Asakusa tourism federation, about 600 bulbs are used to illuminate the fair, which is held each July.
For those looking to save a bit of their own energy, a visit to the fair is spiritually efficient, too. The belief is that a single trip to the temple during the fair brings the same number of blessings as visiting the shrine 46,000 times.
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