TANABATA Festival☆

Posted by: misato
(July 25, 2011 11:13 AM)

Have you heard about TANABATA (七夕) before??

TANABATA is the star festival in Japan and Taiwan, China, Vietnam, etc...

Originally the festival which was a Chinese event(Qixi Festival) reached Japan.

Sendai TANABATA festival

The original TANABATA date was based on the Japanese lunisolar calendar.

Some festivals are held on July 7(yesterday!?),

some are held on a few days around August 7.

It celebrates the meeting of the deities ORIHIME and HIKOBOSHI.

(represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively).

According to legend,

the Milky Way separates these lovers,

and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day

of the seventh lunar month of the Lunar calendar.

The date of Tanabata varies by region of the country,

but the first celebration begin on July 7 of the Gregorian calendar.

The celebration is held at night.

In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes,

sometimes in the form of poetry, on TANZAKU (短冊), small pieces of paper,

and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations.

I did it with my students while I was staying in Malaysia for teaching Japanese last year.

Can you guess what is their wishes??

"Wish to get a good score on a test!"

"Wish to become a rich person!!"

How cute they are!!!

Even though you missed to celebrate it yesterday, you can do it on August 7!!

or visit Sendai for the TANABATA festival during August 6 to 8 (^-^)

Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro
http://www.sakura-hotel-ikebukuro.com/

Sakura Cafe Ikebukuro
http://www.sakura-cafe.asia/ikebukuro/english/

Posted by: misato (July 8, 2011 2:01 PM)