July 7th in Japan is known as “Tanabata” or ‘Star Festival’. Tanabata is explained through a Japanese legend, with its origins from China. Two stars Hikoboshi (Altair / the cow herder star) and Orihime (Vega / the weaving princess) fall deeply in love, but are separated by “Amanogawa” (Milky Way / Heaven’s River). They are allowed to see each other only once a year on Tanabata. One version of the legend says that if it rains on that day, they are not able to meet and must wait for the next year, so they wish for clear skies on that day.
One of the customs of Tanabata is to write your wishes on “tanzaku” (a small piece of colored paper) and hang it on a bamboo tree. In many cases the trees are decorated with origami (folding paper) too. During this time of the year you can see Tanabata bamboo trees almost anywhere. I call it the Japanese Christmas tree. Two big Tanabata festivals are in Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture and Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture (in August).
These are a couple of Tanabata trees at a school and a shopping mall.
