Tanabata, also known as "Star Festival," is one of the biggest and funniest summer festivals in Japan. 
Japanese people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on "tanzaku", small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo. The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day.
The story behind Tanabta is very sad but romantic.
Ok, so here is the brief story behind the Tanabata.....
Princess Orihime, daughter of the Sky King Tentei, wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa, "Milky Way". Since her father loved the cloth that she wove, she worked very hard to weave it everyday. However, because of her hard work, Orihime was sad that she was not able to meet and fall in love with any men.
Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When they met, instantly they fell in love with each other and married shortly thereafter.
Once they got married, Orihime no longer wove cloth for Tentei, and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet.
Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and begged her father to let her meet him again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the Amanogawa because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so hard that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river.
It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.
When I was a child, I always worried about the weather on July 7th.
I looked up the sky and hoped Orihime and Hikoboshi could meet again.
Yup, I was really pure at that time, wasn' I?
Yup, I was really pure at that time, wasn' I?
Therefore, Tanabata is usually celebrated on July 7th, but it is still celebrated on August 7th in some regions of Japan.
Among the biggest and most famous ones are the Tanabata Festivals in Sendai from August 5 th to 7th and in Hiratsuka near Tokyo in July.
I was working in Sendai for three years, and of course I enjoyed Sendai Tanabata Festival.
I saw many people wearing Yukata everywhere in Sendai to enjoy the festival.
The most I liked about Sendai Tanabata Festival was its large and colorful streamers which are held in many places along shopping malls and streets. It was quite amazing to see the decoration of streamers in detail. They were actually great art of works!
More detail stories about Tanabata....
* Pictures are from google image
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