Japanese Tanabata Festival (Star Festival)

[yuiyoshida]

The Tanabata Festival came to Japan from China during the Nara period and is based on the folk legend of the Cowherd Star (Altair) and the Weaver Star (Vega), two lovers whose celestial paths cross but once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

In ancient China, Tanabata was a time when women prayed to the Weaver Star for sewing skills, and this custom was transformed in Japan into one in which prayers for academic proficiency and such cultural arts as shuji are written on multicolored streamers of paper attached to bamboo poles along with origami cranes and other decorations for display in the family garden.

The Japanese name Tanabata（七夕）, written with the characters for seven and evening, is a phonetic writing of Tanabatatsume the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for the Woman Weaver and reflects the timing of the festival on the seventh day of the seventh month.

For most Japanese, this day is July 7 on the Julian calendar. Tanabata used to be a time when people gathered at home or at terakoya schools to enjoy a warm mid-summer evening. This custom eventually yielded to the lavish, commercialized Tanabata Festivals held in shopping districts. Festival sponsors draw crowds of potential customers with parades of over-sized prayer poles, dolls resembling popular singers and actors, and other displays conducive to a festive mood. The Tanabata Festivals held in Sendai and Hiratsuka have won national fame for their gaudiness and attract tourists from far and wide.

http://tokyoing.net/intro/tanabata/

[cosmicone]

1. I was in Osaka in July one time

and enjoyed the festive atmosphere and colorful decorations.