Tanabata
These pictures were taken on Yasukuni Dori in Tokyo's Jimbocho booktown on Friday, June 28, 2013. Shops along the street put out displays of Tanabata trees in preparation for the Tanabata festival on July 7th - coincidentally Ringo Starr's birthday. You don't usually see trees out on the street like this. Usually they appear only in elementary schools around this time of year. Children write wishes on strips of paper and tie them to the boughs that have been put together as a 'tree' and put on display in school foyers. "Tanabata" is sometimes translated as the "star festival" because it celebrates the annual appearance in the sky of the stars Vega and Altair in relative proximity. Tanabata is a kind of love festival because in folklore the stars are personified as deities who are forced to remain apart except for one night of the year.
Neigborhood committees throughout Japan organize neighborhood events during the year - New Year's decorations and summer fesitvals especially. I guess this year the Jimbocho neighborhood committee, or a nieghborhood business association convinced its members to decorate the sidewalks with Tanabata trees. Last winter, following the Adults Day blizzard in early January 2013 the sidewalks in the same area were decorated with expertly crafed snow sculptures.