~The Tanabata Festival. | Reporter: Azusa Ishikawa Click here to seeAzusa's Information! |
 The beautiful Tanabata decorations. |
Hi! This is Azusa. I'd like to tell you about the Tanabata Festival. In my school, as a part of our general studies, all 3rd graders participate in making Tanabata decorations. This year's 3rd graders made beautiful decorations and those who came to see them were really impressed. It made me happy to just see the expressions on their faces. The Tanabata decorations that I think are the prettiest are the ones with paper cranes and money pouches attached to the streamers. Did you know that each Tanabata decoration has a different wish? It seems that after the festival is over almost all the decorations are thrown away. What a waste! Tanabata (Ä╡ù[) gets its name from the combination of Japanese characters for July, (Ä╡îÄ) the 7th day,(Ä╡ô·) and night. (ù[) On this night the two stars called Vega and Altair meet once again after being separated for so long during the year. The Sendai Tanabata Festival takes place from August 6th to the 8th and is said to have become a much more popular event after the previous emperor of Japan visited the festival himself. Since I mentioned Vega and Altair, I'd like to explain the heavenly legend of Tanabata in my own words; A long, long time ago, there was a beautiful maiden called the weaver princess who made beautiful fabrics. She always gave her father the clothes she made. One day, while she was going to buy some cloth, she met Altair and fell in love with him at first sight. They received her father's blessing and married. The two, however, forgot about their work and played all day long. This angered the princess╒s father and he made the Milky Way to separate them. After seeing the princess and Altair crying while doing their work, the father decided to allow them to meet once a year on July 7th. How about everyone making their own story about the stars? |
 Some decorations are a little different! |
| The Sendai Tanabata is one of the main festivals of the Tohoku region of Japan and is characterized by large, beautiful decorations. If you have any questions about the decorations or Tanabata in general, send them by e-mail. We are also waiting for your own Heavenly Tales |  |