Do you know the story of the star-crossed lovers? No, not Romeo and Juliet. I’m talking about the story of two people destined to meet across the Milky Way every year! Join me on my Tanabata adventure.
You may be asking yourself, what exactly is Tanabata? Every July 7, Japanese people celebrate star-crossed lovers that meet on this day. It is based on an old Chinese legend of two lovers, Princess Orihime and Hikoboshi.
The princess was a wonderful seamstress who wove clothes down by the heavenly river (Milky Way), though she was known to work too hard, causing her to cry that she would never be able to meet her special someone and fall in love. Unbeknownst to her, Hikoboshi, a cow herder who lived on the other side of the Milky Way. Her father (Aka: the God of the Heavens), a devoted and loving man to his daughter, arranged for the princess and cow herder to meet.
As soon as they met, it was love at first sight and they married soon after. Their love was strong, so strong that the princess stopped weaving her beautiful clothes and the man became careless with his cows as he allowed them to wander anywhere they pleased in the heavens.
After seeing how the two fell off of their duties, the King became angry and prohibited them from meeting each other. While his actions were strict, the King truly did love his daughter, so he allowed them to meet on the seventh day of the seventh month so long as his daughter continued to weave clothes.
When it came to the first meeting, it was difficult for them to meet across the river, the Milky Way, and she became so sad that a flock of magpies built a bridge for her to cross over. They say that if it rains on Tanabata, the birds will not come to build the bridge, thus the lovers must wait another year to reunite. If the weather is clear and sunny, they can meet.
Families mostly celebrate this holiday with their children as they take out a colorful piece of paper known as a tanzaku and write their special wishes on the paper. From there, they hang it on bamboo at home or in public spaces. They use bamboo because it grows straight and upwards, bringing it closer to the heavens to make the wish come true.
You can find a variety of different places where you can write your wish throughout Japan, such as at train stations, malls, libraries, universities, and other local areas.
This year, my friends and I went to a festival in Tenmabashi.
Getting tickets was easy enough as I followed the website that was listed on the poster and bought my ticket the same day. Tickets sold out quickly, so I recommend if you go to this festival next year, make sure to get your ticket ahead of time (at least 2-3 weeks before). The time slot for section A was sold out by the time I saw the poster, so we got section B instead for the earliest time. I would say it’s a blessing in disguise because I felt that section B looked better.
Since we knew there would be a lot of people, we met at 6 PM even though the Tanabata event started at 7:10 PM. I recommend going an hour earlier to get in line quickly. It definitely worked out in our favor because we talked a lot and they started letting people in early.
After we were let in, we were given a mini poster with some information on the event regarding getting our glow balls and being able to make our wish. From there we waited in line a little more as the event staff prepared.
Once it gets started, we were able to get our balls and toss them into the water and make a wish.
After, we followed the flow of the line to where we were able to write our actual wishes and then hang them on the bamboo tree.
From there, we sat down in the area and watched as other people threw their balls (“wishes”) in and made their wish. There was something beautiful about watching everyone come in. It was nice to hear everyone laugh and see them all having fun together as they made their prayers. Just imagine thousands of people walking by with hope in their hearts~
We all made such beautiful wishes, and I’m so excited to see how they play out throughout the year.
*There’s not much I would change, though I definitely recommend for you to bring some kind of drink or something for you to snack on. There were a few food stalls with karaage and sushi, though you’ll definitely want to have a drink or something to munch on considering that you’ll be there for hours.
*Bring a fan or an umbrella. Even though it was evening time, it was still sweltering hot. It wasn’t until later that the wind was blowing and it was cooler, giving off a refreshing feeling.
*You will most likely sit on the floor to watch everything, so bring something to sit on if you don’t want to dirty your clothes.
After, we went and ate at a nearby Korean restaurant. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn’t eat as much as I wanted to because the main dish was spicier than I thought it would be. Everything I did eat was incredibly delicious though and I give the restaurant a 9 out of 10.
Overall, I really recommend that everyone go to this festival if they are in the Kansai area. I wouldn’t trade this memory for the world. All of our wishes will come true because it was a bright and sunny day, so the star-crossed lovers could meet. Make sure to get your ticket next year so that you can also experience such a beautiful moment.
