~The Star Festival ~

In Japan, on July 7th, we hold the Star Festival. It is called “TANABATA” in Japanese. The origin came from China a long time ago. In this festival, people make a lot of oblong cards. We write our desire on the cards. I think the Star Festival is an important event because we can wish our special people for health and a good life. Then, we decorate bamboo grass with these oblong cards and a lot of ornament shaped stars. It is said that our desire will come true if people float the bamboo grass to the river.

★The Story of the Orihime and Hikoboshi★



The Star Festival has a special story. In the old day, a woman called Vega lived near the Milky Way. When she became an adult, her father made her marry a man. His name is Altair. However, once they married, they became lazy. They did not work and did nothing so the god got angry. He decided to divide them by the Milky Way. Vega was so sad because she could not see Altair anymore and she had cried every day since that day. Therefore, the god felt sorry for her and he permitted her to see Altair only once a year, on July 7th, the Star Festival day. In Japan, there is a famous star festival, Sendai Star Festival. It is a big festival and it is included in the three big festivals in the northeast district.