Tanabata (七夕), Wishing upon a Star

 

Tanabata, also known as the "star festival", takes place 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.

Altair is said to breed cattle while Vega weaved cloths in the heaven. On this special day, a popular custom is to offer livestock miniatures made of the early summer vegetables in the season such as putting short-cut chopsticks into the body of eggplant, cucumber, and corn to compare them to the legs of cattle and horse miniatures and put the miniatures under the bamboo tree.

 

 

Another popular Tanabata custom is to write one's wishes on a piece of paper, and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo branch, in the hope that the wishes become true. As Tanabata approaches, decorated bamboo branches can be seen all around the neighborhood, signaling that summer has finally arrived and that summer vacation is just around the corner.

Delicacies of the summer, such as chilled watermelon, somen (fine noodles usually eaten cold), edamame (young soya beans in the pod), azuki bean jelly and pickles are also eaten to welcome the season.

 七夕さま, The Tanabata Song

ささのは　さらさら      The bamboo leaves rustle
のきばに　ゆれる           shaking away in the leaves
お星さま　きらきら      The stars twinkle
きんぎん　すなご          on the gold and silver grains of sand
ごしきの　たんざく      The five-colored mulberry paper strips
わたしが　かいた          I have already written
お星さま　きらきら      The stars twinkle,
空から　　見てる          they watch us from heaven.