TANABATA FESTIVAl
Yesterday is Tanabata. Do you know about this Japanese Festival?
It is observed on every 7th July, also known as the Star Festival in English.
This is an event that comes from a story about the stars.
So I would like to share that story with you.
Once upon a time, on the western bank of the Milky Way, there was a beautiful daughter.Her name was Orihime, the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven.She worked to make clothes for the people of Heaven every day.The heavenly emperor felt sorry for her,so he decided to find her marriage partner.
Meanwhile, on the eastern bank of the Milky Way, there was a young man named Hikoboshi.He was a hard worker, always diligently tending to his cows.
The emperor of heaven liked Hikoboshi at first sight, So Orihime and Hikoboshi were destined to be married.
They got married and became a very close couple. However, they were so close that they stayed together all the time and stopped working altogether.
Finally, The Emperor of Heaven had enough and said, “I will not allow you to live together any longer. You should live separately on the east and west sides of the Milky Way, just as before.” That is why the two were separated from each other.
A huge Milky Way spread out between them, and they could no longer meet as before.
Orihime cried and cried every day, after that, The emperor of Heaven felt sorry for her and said, “Orihime, if you miss him so much, I will allow you to see him only once a year. “
Since from then, the two could meet once a year across the Milky Way.
They both look forward to this one day and work every day to make it happen.
This is the beginning of the Tanabata Festival.
Japanese people pray that it will not rain today. Because if it rains, the Milky Way will overflow and the two will not be able to cross the bridge and meet.
And like Orihime and Hikoboshi, they pray that their wishes will also come true.
It says that if you write your wish on a strip of paper and hang it on a bamboo branch, your wish will come true.
Did Orihime and Hikoboshi meet yesterday too ?
Let’s see the sky!