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Tanabata Matsuri – keep wishing, wish it strongly…
According to the legend, the lovers in the main picture are the weaver princess 👸🏻 named Orihime (Vega) and a cow 🐮 herder prince named Hikoboshi (Altair). They lived peacefully and industriously beside the “heavenly river” of the Milky Way. Orihime and Hikoboshi wed, after falling in love with each other. However, they began neglecting their work: Orihime ceased weaving cloth, and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to wander all around the skies. The angered Sky King punished the couple by exiling them to separate ends of the Milky Way. The lovers were devastated!💔 Taking pity on them, the Sky King allowed Orihime and Hikoboshi a one meeting on the 7th day of the 7th month, so long as they both diligently fulfill their celestial obligations during the other days of the year. Hence the name TANABATA (七夕), which means “evening of the seventh”.
When tanabata first crossed from China to Japan aristocrats in the imperial court would hold poetry contests to celebrate the festival, writing verses as they gazed up at the stars. Therefore, the festival is also known as “Star Festival”. By the Edo period (1600 – 1868) the festival became popular and even today, the custom of writing wishes on strips of paper, colorful streamers, origami are observed and hanged on branches of decorative bamboos.
Make a wish, write it on a strip of paper and hung it on a bamboo pole at the Tanabata Festival. Keeping wishing, wish it strongly, one day, your wish will come true... There are also hanging kinchaku bags for prosperity and orizuru (folded cranes) for longevity. Items are easily constructed from origami and other light, colorful materials. They are all hung on bamboo poles.
In Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, Tanabata is celebrated August 6 to 8, observing the old Lunar Calendar. During the festival, the city center and surrounding commercial districts are festooned with decorations. Sets of 3-5 meter long colourful streamers are handcrafted by local shops, schools and community groups out of washi paper and bamboo and hung from ten meter long bamboo poles along the arcades. In addition to the streamers, which represent the threads of a loom, there are smaller paper decorations that include kimono to ward off bad health and accidents; a net for good harvests; cranes for long life, health and safety; a purse for good business; a trashbag for cleanliness; and paper strips for good handwriting.
At Yamaguchi, Tanabata is celebrated with lanterns (chochin) made of bamboo, dedicated to the souls of their ancestors. A candle is lit inside each lantern.
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