水前寺での七夕Happy belated Tanabata to lovers everywhere.
The actual date of the festival is July 7th.
"Tanbata" means "evening of the seventh" and is the Japanese star festival.
July 7th is the one night of the year when the stars Vega and Altair "meet" on their annual celestial journey.
According to legend, the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi who are depicted, respectively, by Vega and Altair, are separated by the the Milky Way for 364 days of the year. However, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the unrequited lovers meet, if ever so briefly.
In Japan, the festival became popular in the early Edo period.
In general, the festival is celebrated by writing wishes on colorful pieces of paper attached to a strip of bamboo.
Young girls in the past wished to become more proficient at sewing and craftsmanship, while boys hoped for better handwriting.
This photo was taken at Suizenji Temple, which is in Kumamoto.
Today, typical wishes are for health, academic success, business prospects - and of course love.
© CycleKyoto.com
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Tanabata
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