Tanabata

Tanabata celebration in Asagaya
By ITA-ATU
(contributor photographed)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Tanabata is a festival on the 7th of July which celebrates the meeting of the two stars, Vega and Altair. The two stars are also known as the deities 織姫 (Orihime) and 彦星 (Hikoboshi). Japanese legend says that the Milky Way separated the lovers and could only once a year.

Japanese people hang coloured, narrow strips of paper onto bamboo branches and write their wishes and Orihime makes it come true. What is really meant to happen is that you write down your resolution down. They also decorate the bamboo with paper decorations like paper chains and stars. For some people, this festival marks how the summer holiday is near

Japanese people dress in ゆかた(yukata) is a casual summer kimono often worn at summer. At  festivals, there is a variety of foodstalls which sell food like 焼きそば(yakisoba) and 焼き鳥(yakitori). Yakisoba are chow mein noodles which have been stir fried with a sauce, meat, cabbages and other vegetables. There is always pickled ginger on top. Yakitori are pieces of chicken which have been barbecued with a slightly sweet soy based sauce. Sometimes, they are served which just a sprinkling of
salt.

Sendai (Miyagi prefecture) and Hiratsuka (Kanagawa prefecture) are famous for their Tanabata displays.

Yakisoba
By yoppy (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Male and Female yukata
By Corpse Reviver (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yakitori
By 竹麦魚(Searobin) (Own work)
 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/
copyleft/fdl.html),
CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
 or CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses
/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en)],
via Wikimedia Commons

The story behind the festival

Orihime was the daughter of  天帝 (Tentei) who was the universe himself wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the 天の川 (Milky way). Tentei was the Emperor. She worked very hard to weave the clothes. She was sad because she was lonely amd could never fall in love with anyone. Her father arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who was a cow herder on the other side of the Milky way. When they met, they fell in love instantly and married. Orihime no longer weaved and Hikoboshi let his cows wonder to heaven.
Tentei got angry and forbade them from meeting. Orihime wanted to meet Hikoboshi so much so she
cried. Her father felt sorry for his daughter and allowed her to meet him on the 7th July as long as she carried on weaving. On the day that they were meant to come together, the river (Milky way) was too hard to cross so she got upset. A flock of magpies came and made a bridge for her to cross. The magpies would only come when it is not raining on Tanabata, so people always wish for good weather. This is just one variation of the legend.

Fun fact: In Japanese stations, there will be a short melody that is played when trains are about to depart. In Hiratsuka station, the name of the melody is called 七夕様 (Tanabatasama) which means Orihime.

Hiratsuka station
By そらみみ (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fun fact 2: The original packaging design of a popular Japanese soft drink called カルピス (calpico) was based on the Milky Way.

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