.:* Happy Tanabata! *:. | Page 1 | ~ My Japan 私の日本 ~ | Guild Forums

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Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:27 pm

Happy Tanabata everyone! Wow, can you believe it's been a year already since the last Tanabata? I'm just going to be lazy here and post things I've posted before. LOL.

.:* When is it? *:.
Technically it is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year, when, according to a Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, which are usually separated from each other by the milky way, are able to meet. However, because the 7th month of the year roughly coincides with August rather than July according to the formerly used lunar calendar, Tanabata is still celebrated on August 7th in some regions of Japan, while it is celebrated on July 7th in other regions. To make it easy on us, we decided to celebrate it in July. ^_^

.:* Chinese? Isn't it supposed to be Japanese? *:.
Actually, it is! Tanabata (七夕) is a Japanese festival derived from the Chinese festival Qi Xi (七夕), "The Night of Sevens". It was imported to Japan during the Heian period.

.:* So what's this about stars? *:.
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The festival is based on the legend of the two lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi, symbolized respectively by the stars Vega and Altair. Throughout the year they are separated by the river of the Milky Way, but on one single night every year, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the traditional Japanese calendar, a bridge of birds appears between them, and they are allowed to be together.

.:* Is there a story I can read about it? *:.
Sure is! This is an excerpt from one version:

Quote:

The god of Firmament who lived in the High Plain of Heaven had a very beautiful daughter named Tanabata, and it was her duty to spend her time weaving garments for her father. One day while at her loom she spied a handsome lad named Hikoboshi leading an ox, and she at once fell in love with the lad. Her father knowing his daughter’s thoughts immediately consented to her marriage.

But, they loved well but not wisely, Orihime neglected her weaving duties to her father, and Hikoboshi let is oxen wander unattended across the High Plain of Heaven, greatly angering the God of Firmament. He commanded that the lover be separated from one another by the Celestial River.

The separated lovers’ grief was so great that soon the God of Firmament consented to allow the lovers to meet one night a year to sooth their loneliness. So on the seventh night of the seventh month the lovers come to the banks of the Celestial River and wait for a company of Magpies to form a bridge so the lover can finally be together. It is said that if the weather is good and the Star Lovers meet that one can look up into the night sky and see the stars Vega (Orihime) and Altair (Hikoboshi) shine with the colors blue, green, red, yellow, and white.

Now this only happens if the weather is good, if there is rain then the Celestial River might become too wide for even the Magpies to span, and then the weary lovers will have to wait another year to meet. In times past, young children would sing “oh, weather, be clear” before the Weaving festival.

.:* How do the Japanese celebrate? *:.
~People place fresh cut bamboos on the roofs of their houses or in the ground next to their houses.
~They attach strips of colored paper containing poems or praises to the lovers to the bamboos, these strips of paper also contain wishes for good crop harvests, good grades, good health, good wealth, and even romance. (There's more info in Mugoi's thread - check hers out!)
~During the night, people can go out in casual clothing or in more traditional clothing such as Yukatas.
~Most common events are goldfish scooping, karaoke singing, sumo contests, food booths, fireworks, and boat rides if near water.
~They say that the biggest and best celebrations are in Sendai in August and Hiratsuka, which is near Tokyo.