Tanabata

Today is the Japanese holiday of Tanabata. It's a "star festival" that was imported from China sometime during the Heian Period (794 to 1185). The festival is held on the 7th day of the 7th month in most parts of Japan... except here in Hida where it's a month later, in August. Many festivals get pushed back by a month here; supposedly because the altitude makes the weather about a month behind that of the rest of the country (according to the locals anyway). Whether they do the same thing somewhere like, say, Sapporo, I'm not sure ('_^) I have also heard that many areas observe it August 7 because that more closely coincides with the 7th month of the traditional lunar calendar that was followed in Japan before the Meiji Era.

At any rate, although they don't hold the festival for it until August, everybody here knows Tanabata is SUPPOSED to be on 7/7, as evidenced by the "tanabata jello" I had in my school lunch today (oh yes, school doesn't end here for 2 more weeks) ^^

The premise of the festival is as follows. According to the legend (originally from China and tweaked to fit Japan), the two stars Vega, known as Orihime (weaving princess) and Altair, known as Hikiboshi (cow herder star) represent two lovers who are separated by the Milky Way "river". Only once a year are they able to meet, on the 7th day of the 7th month, for one night.

I feel especially sorry for Hikiboshi in this tale, as not only does bear an incredibly unfortunate name, he also appears to have been very unlucky in his choice of father-in-law.

From wikipedia:
Orihime (織姫, Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝, Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川, Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星, Cow Herder Star) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.
(link)

The main features of the Tanabata festival are the colorful lanters with streamers and bamboo with wishes. Since it hasn't been held here yet this year I can't show you any pictures of them... but, oh, wait...

I have pictures from last year. Lucky you!

According to wikipedia, the streamers on the the lanterns represent the strings Orihime uses to weave

How true that is, I have no idea. I didn't ask ^_^

The best decoration/feature of the festival though, in my opinion, are the wishes. They are written on 短冊, tanzaku, colorful strips of paper, and then attached to bamboo. According to wikipedia, In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper.. These days, however, people write wishes for anything.


I think the bamboo and the paper are burned after the festival, similar to other wishing customs in Japan. And in case you were wondering, yes, my wish is hanging there in the picture, and no, I'm not telling you what it was =D

Unfortunately for the lovers this year, today has been completely overcast with periods of no, light, and very heavy rain. At the moment, if my ears are to be believed, we are currently in a period of medium-to-heavily-rainy. Looks like the magpies won't be making any bridges tonight.

HOWEVER, thanks to Hida's relatively-chilly weather, the lovers will get a 2nd chance next month. Keep your fingers crossed for better weather then (^_^)b