tanabata

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Tanabata, the Seventh Evening, takes place on July 7th. It is a big summer festival where the streets light up with beautiful lanterns. It is a celebration of the stars when the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi meet, or when the stars Vega and Altair cross. It is a romantic festival to commemorate their love story, husband and wife separated and permitted by the gods to meet on the 7th of each month, so on 7/7.  You can read the whole story here.





My personal favorite are the wish trees - bamboo covered with wishes and poems, or tanzaku.



The lanterns hang from bamboo poles.


Less traditional lanterns...





Everyone comes out in their finest yukatas!



Hope you are having a lovely summer!

Photos by me, please credit if you share. Thanks!
ArchitectDesign™ said...

oh that looks like so much fun -love the fun colors (and michael jackson, haha)

Parnassus said...

Hello Ann, The Japanese are such experts at Cute. I also love the American cultural adaptations such as the Beavis and Butthead float.
--Jim