Tanabata

Remember the Chinese story of the Weaving Maid and the Cowherd who can meet only once a year? The story has filtered over to Japan as well and it is celebrated on 7 July (instead of the 7th day of the lunar month). Called Tanabata over here, people used to write the wish for clear skies on 7 July and tie their wish on bamboo so that Orihime (Japanese name for the Weaving Maid) and Hikoboshi (Cowherd) can meet. If it rains, the Milky Way, which is called a river in Japanese, will be flooded and they cannot meet.

Today, Japanese write their own personal wish on colourful pieces of paper and tie it on the bamboo plant. At my school, almost every class put up a bamboo plant in their classroom and tie wishes written by students and teachers on it. It looks really pretty. Big stores also have bamboo plants on display. It is not a public holiday though :(