Tanabata, July 7th
Tanabata is a star festival meaning "evening of the seventh day". Tanabata festivals are held in many places and decorations are often found in shopping malls and streets. They decorate them with large colourful streamers. Tanabata is a Japanese tradition where people write their wishes on small coloured pieces of paper and hang them on bamboo branches. According to legend, the milky way separates two lovers and they are only allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.
by Briannah
by Briannah
The Tanabata story is based on the Chinese Legend of the stars Altair and Vega. A weaver Orihime (Vega) works very hard for her father, a God, weaving clothing all day long, every day. Seeing how hard she is working, he introduces her to Hikoboshi (Altair), a cow hearder who also works very hard. They fell in love at once and got married. Soon after Orihime's father notices that they aren't working anymore. He separates the couple over a river (The Milky Way). After seeing how distressed the pair are, the God grants them one day a year in which they can meet; the seventh day of the seventh month. This is only possible if it isn't a rainy day before the festival.
There are many ways to celebrate Tanabata but the most common one is to write wishes about health, love and success on long, narrow prices of coloured paper hanging on bamboo. After the festival is over, head are thrown into the river or ocean, taking the misfortune and bad luck with it. Streamers are also hung up to represent the weaving in the story and asking to get better at it in the next year. By Keely |