Tanabata (Star Festival)

Japanese people celebrate “Tanabata (Star Festival)” on July 7th. On this day, they write their wishes on a “tanzaku”(a long rectangular paper) and hang it on a small bamboo. At Tanabata, it is said that princess Orihime and the prince Hikoboshi are allowed to across the Milky Way and meet each other only once a year. The story is originally from China, and it has several variations but here is what both the “Middle Kingdom” and Japan have in common: A God had a daughter called Orihime who was a hard worker and good at weaving. He made her meet a man called Hikoboshi who also was a hard worker. The young man and woman fell in love and got married. However, they stopped working after coming together. The God who introduced the couple got angry about this, separated, and sent them to both ends of the Milky Way. However, Princess Orihime cried her heart out and the God decided to allow them to meet each other once a year on July 7th.