Tanabata, the Star Festival
Time for another post! I'm not very good at keeping these consistent...
July 7th is a festival in Japan called Tanabata 七夕 (translated more literally as 'the seventh night'), also known as the Star Festival. It is on the 7th day of the 7th month every year, and various shrines and cities will have celebrations. I would say it's not as actively celebrated as other festivals in Japan, partially because in my prefecture you have to go to the capital city to enjoy the actual festival part. But even without a festival, people still observe Tanabata every year.
First up the actual practices. Tanabata is a time for making wishes. There will be bamboo trees specially erected in stores, malls, schools, and shrines for this purpose. Taking a slip of paper, you write your wish and tie it to the bamboo tree. Two of the most common wishes are for success on tests or exams, and getting a boyfriend/girlfriend. Not everyone makes wishes, but it is very popular among students and young children. Parents naturally get dragged along and might as well make a wish too!
Now, why is it called the Star Festival? That's where the folklore comes in. Originally, the story is said to have come from China. I have heard two variations of the story from other people, and there are others as is true with almost every piece of folklore ever. The story has 3 main characters: Tentei, translated as 'the universe' or 'Sky King', Hikoboshi, translated as 'Cowherd Star', and Orihime, translated as 'Weaving Princess'. The characters of Orihime and Hikoboshi are representations of the stars Vega and Altair respectively (hence the name Star Festival as it's a story about stars).
In the first version, Orihime is the daughter of the Sky King. She is a weaver, and her father loves her very much. But naturally, she gets lonely weaving by herself. One day she meets Hikoboshi, a cow herder. When they meet, they instantly fall in love. However once they are together, both start neglecting their duties and spending time with each other instead. Orihime would no longer weave, and Hikoboshi would no longer tend his cattle. The Sky King gets mad, as a father would, and splits the two apart, sending them to opposite sides of the Milky Way and forbidding them from seeing each other. Naturally, Orihime is distraught at the loss of her lover and begs her father to let them meet again. The Sky King feels a little bad and agrees to allow them to cross the Milky Way and meet one night a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month. Nice of him, right? I mean, surely one time a year is sufficient. There is a continuation of the story wherein the two lovers try to meet and realize they can't cross the Milky Way. Orihime cries and a flock of magpies come and make a bridge of their wings so they can meet. Cause that makes sense. If there is rain on the night of Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the lovers have to wait another year to meet again.
The second version of the story is one that I've heard before, and is a common story in the folklore of other countries (if you've seen "Song of the Sea" you'll know what I mean). This time, Orihime comes down from heaven to do her weaving/escape boredom, and there she meets Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi takes her heavenly garments, thus preventing her from going back to heaven. Nice guy. The two still fall in love and are married, but one day Orihime is able to retrieve her garments/is called back by her father and ascends to heaven where she belongs. But she can't return to earth and becomes sad because she misses Hikoboshi. So the Sky King allows Orihime to cross the Milky Way and descend one night a year to be with her lover.
Overall it's a bittersweet story, and I feel the first variation has more of a 'Japanese feel' to it, just because it punishes laziness and neglecting work which is such a big deal in Japan, accounting for why that's the story I heard more often. I didn't do anything for Tanabata, I only asked others about it. There wasn't anything going on in my home town, and I couldn't think of a wish I would want to put on the bamboo! I'll probably try to go next year if possible to the capital city for the big festival, but until then, I hope your Tanabata wishes come true, and that you aren't separated from your love by a giant river of stars!
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| Tanabata Wishing Tree. Picture from Wikimedia Commons |
First up the actual practices. Tanabata is a time for making wishes. There will be bamboo trees specially erected in stores, malls, schools, and shrines for this purpose. Taking a slip of paper, you write your wish and tie it to the bamboo tree. Two of the most common wishes are for success on tests or exams, and getting a boyfriend/girlfriend. Not everyone makes wishes, but it is very popular among students and young children. Parents naturally get dragged along and might as well make a wish too!
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| Stars Vega and Altair with the Milky Way in the middle. Picture from Wikimedia Commons |
In the first version, Orihime is the daughter of the Sky King. She is a weaver, and her father loves her very much. But naturally, she gets lonely weaving by herself. One day she meets Hikoboshi, a cow herder. When they meet, they instantly fall in love. However once they are together, both start neglecting their duties and spending time with each other instead. Orihime would no longer weave, and Hikoboshi would no longer tend his cattle. The Sky King gets mad, as a father would, and splits the two apart, sending them to opposite sides of the Milky Way and forbidding them from seeing each other. Naturally, Orihime is distraught at the loss of her lover and begs her father to let them meet again. The Sky King feels a little bad and agrees to allow them to cross the Milky Way and meet one night a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month. Nice of him, right? I mean, surely one time a year is sufficient. There is a continuation of the story wherein the two lovers try to meet and realize they can't cross the Milky Way. Orihime cries and a flock of magpies come and make a bridge of their wings so they can meet. Cause that makes sense. If there is rain on the night of Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the lovers have to wait another year to meet again.
The second version of the story is one that I've heard before, and is a common story in the folklore of other countries (if you've seen "Song of the Sea" you'll know what I mean). This time, Orihime comes down from heaven to do her weaving/escape boredom, and there she meets Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi takes her heavenly garments, thus preventing her from going back to heaven. Nice guy. The two still fall in love and are married, but one day Orihime is able to retrieve her garments/is called back by her father and ascends to heaven where she belongs. But she can't return to earth and becomes sad because she misses Hikoboshi. So the Sky King allows Orihime to cross the Milky Way and descend one night a year to be with her lover.
Overall it's a bittersweet story, and I feel the first variation has more of a 'Japanese feel' to it, just because it punishes laziness and neglecting work which is such a big deal in Japan, accounting for why that's the story I heard more often. I didn't do anything for Tanabata, I only asked others about it. There wasn't anything going on in my home town, and I couldn't think of a wish I would want to put on the bamboo! I'll probably try to go next year if possible to the capital city for the big festival, but until then, I hope your Tanabata wishes come true, and that you aren't separated from your love by a giant river of stars!
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