KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2017 - 17:00 | Lifestyle, All

The underwater Tanabata star festival is being held off the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama, attracting divers to a site teeming with tropical and subtropical fish.

Visitors to the venue near the town of Kushimoto can make wishes ahead of the July 7 commemoration of star-crossed lovers by putting wooden tags inscribed with their wishes onto bamboos placed on the seabed some 15 meters below the surface.

The event at the southern tip of Japan's main island has been held since 2013 by a diving association which hopes to promote the rich local sea registered with the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.