So the month of June is drawing to a close, and with it, the Japanese rainy season. It's different every year; sometimes the rainy season ends abruptly right at the end of June, but sometimes it drags on for days if not weeks. And sometimes, it rains off and on. You'll just never know.
In the middle or near the end of June, the Japanese begin to get ready to celebrate Tanabata (七夕), also known as the "star festival," which generally happens on July the 7th.
So what is "Tanabata?"
I don't know how else to describe it but as a combination of Asian Christmas and Valentine's Day which is celebrated in the summer.
For Tanabata, people in Japan decorate large bamboo fronds with various ornaments made of paper. People write their wishes on colorful strips of paper called tanzaku (短冊), and they make a variety of origami and cut-outs which they then tie onto the branches of the bamboo frond.
Preparation for the event begins a few days in advance, and culminates on the evening of July 7, when people go out at night to watch the stars. On this night, people make wishes upon the stars of Vega and Altair. Children to wish to become something when they grow up, to do well on tests or contests, or to pass their school entrance exams. It is a popular day for couples to spend a romantic night, wishing upon the stars to be together forever and ever.
Origin
This festival was actually imported from China, where it is known as "Qī Xī" in Mandarin (七夕, better pronounced as "chee shee"), or the "Night of Sevens". (The Chinese characters 七 and 夕 are "seven" and "night/evening" respectively.) This is due to the fact that the festival is held on the seventh day of the seventh month. In Japan, nowadays this refers to July 7th, but in the past, it referred to the seventh day of the seventh month in the old Chinese lunar calendar. In Korea, a similar festival exists, where it is known as "Chilseok." (The Korean pronunciation of 七夕.)
Originally, Tanabata was a festival where people would plead for skills. Thus, an alternate name for Tanabata was “Kikkoden,” or "The Festival to Plead for Skills" (乞巧奠). In China, it is still alternately known as "The Festival to Plead for Skills"(乞巧節; qĭ qiāo jié) or, "The Night of Skills" (巧夕; qiāo xī). Interestingly enough, an alternative name for Tanabata is "the festival of the weaver," and alternative Chinese characters for it are "棚機," which stand for "trellis/treadle" and "loom" respectively. The Chinese characters "七夕" should be read "shichiseki" in Japanese, but are read "Tanabata" instead.
The original custom was to write wishes for skills on special strips of paper. Girls would wish for better sewing and craft skills, while boys would wish for better handwriting. Today, the festival has evolved into an event where people wish for clear weather so that the weaver and the cowherd can meet, or just to wish for anything in general. The wishes are written down on strips of paper called tanzaku (短冊), and they are tied to bamboo fronds, along with other decorations made out of paper.
Because they happen at around the same time*, Tanabata and the Obon festival are closely tied together. Obon is a Japanese festival where people remember and worship their ancestors. As it is believed that the spirits of ancestors come back from the land of the dead to visit during Obon every year, Obon and Tanabata share the common thread of "meeting but once a year." Some traditions from these holidays resemble each other. For example, the bamboo branches on which wishes are tied are set afloat on a river, or they’re burned after the festival. This is similar to the way floating lanterns are set afloat on the river for Obon. But that's a post for another day.
*Obon and Tanabata are both supposed to take place in the “seventh month” according to the lunar calendar. The lunar calendar and the solar calendar do not match up exactly, resulting in the establishment of different dates. Please read on.
Legend
In Japan, the legend says that Vega was a weaving princess (織姫, Orihime), daughter of the King of the Universe (天帝, Tentei). She was a skilled weaver, and the cloth she would work hard to create was so beautiful it pleased her father very much. The princess would work diligently to make her cloth, but she longed for a lover.
And so it came to pass that she fell in love with the cowherd ( 彦星, Hikoboshi, AKA: Altair) who would tend to cows not very far from where she worked on her loom. The cowherd also fell in love with the princess, and so the two began to wander off together.
The cowherd's cows, unattended, began to stray all over skies, and the princess stopped weaving her cloth. Upon discovering this disarray, the King of the Universe was angered so much so that he separated the lovers by creating the River of Heaven (天の川, Ama no Gawa, AKA: The Milky Way) between them.
As time passed, the weaving princess grew ever despondent at the thought of not being able to see the cowherd. She pleaded with her father to let them meet again. Moved by his daughter's tears, the King of Heaven promised the weaving princess that if she worked diligently to finish her weaving, he would allow her and the cowherd to meet on the 7th night of the 7th month every year.
The "River of Heaven" at night...
And so it goes, that the princess perches at the edge of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while the cowherd looks on from afar, tending to his cows. On the 7th night of the 7th month, the River of Heaven ebbs low enough for the weaver and the cowherd to meet. It is said that if Tanabata falls on a rainy day, the river swells and so the lovers can’t meet and they must wait until the next year to meet again.
In another variation of this story, the River of Heaven ebbs low enough for the two lovers to see each other, but not low enough for them to actually meet. The lovers call out to each other and they are heard by a passing flock of magpies. Feeling pity for the couple, the magpies call to all the magpies of the world, and they form a bridge with their wings so that the weaver and the cowherd can meet.
Learning of the couple's plight, the birds promise to come every year to form the bridge. If it rains on Tanabata, however, the magpies cannot come and the lovers must wait another year. For this reason, Tanabata is also known as the Magpie Festival in China.
The Cowherd and the Weaver meeting over a bridge of magpies over the River of Heaven.
Different Dates for Tanabata
When Tanabata is celebrated actually varies, due to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. Traditionally, Tanabata happens on “the seventh day of the seventh month,” however this was in reference to the older lunar calendar, which can lag behind the Gregorian calendar by about a month. Most people celebrate Tanabata on the 7th of July, as July is the seventh month of the Gregorian calendar, but others celebrate it on the 7th of of August, in order to bring the celebration closer to the lunar date. Still, others keep track of the older lunar calendar, and celebrate Tanabata accordingly. For this reason, Tanabata is celebrated on different days by different people.
The city of Sendai is particularly famous for their Tanabata festivities.
Japanese Tanabata Song
Children in Japan learn this song in school. It can be heard in grocery stores and shopping centers as Tanabata approaches.
七夕様
ささのは さらさら
のきばに ゆれる
お星さま きらきら
きんぎん すなご
ごしきの たんざく
わたしが かいた
お星さま きらきら
空から 見てる
Tanabata-sama
Sasa no ha sara-sara
Nokiba ni yureru
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Kingin sunago
Goshiki no tanzaku
watashi ga kaita
Ohoshi-sama kirakira
sora kara miteru
Oh Great Tanabata
Bamboo leaves rustle
Waving high up in the eaves
The majestic stars shimmer
Like gold and silver grains of sand
On five-color paper strips
I have written
The majestic stars shimmer
Looking on from heaven above
This song can be heard in Japanese below:
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