Tanabata

 July 7th is Tanabata, a Japanese Star festival.  Every year children and adults make colorful decorations that they hang from bamboo trees.  Along with these decorations, wishes are made and written on small strips of paper and added to the tree.  Custom says that after the celebration, the decorations and wishes are either left on the bamboo and sent floating down the river, or, they are burnt just after midnight.

There are star festivals all over Japan on 7/7.  (Although some celebrate in August due to interpretations from different calendars.)  These festivals vary in size by area - our area didn't have a large festival.  The larger ones can include parades, decoration contests, and the standard food stalls and carnival games.  All festivals, regardless of size, have many Tanabata decorations and wishes filling the area.

The Story of Tanabata 

(borrowed from Wikipedia)

Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess^?), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King, or the universe itself^?), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川 Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"^?). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder Star^?) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛^?)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.

One of the schools that I teach at had a Tea Ceremony in honor of Tanabata.  I was fortunate to be invited - and can best tell you the story through pictures and captions.  

After the sieve.

Before the sieve.

I arrived early and was able to help with the preparations.  Below are pictures of the process we went through to prepare the green tea.  It is a powder that we worked through a sieve to make very fine.  It is then whisked into hot water to make (very) green tea.

The sieve.  Cute!

Cute little one in her kimonon.  Love
her hair!

Old meets new - traditional shoes along with sneakers.

Outside of the room that we were preparing the tea in, the students and teachers were all busy getting ready and doing one final rehearsal.  Everyone involved in the ceremony wore a summer kimono - imagine a traditional kimono, just made from lighter fabric and bright floral patterns.  

Sensei adding Tanabata decor to the
bamboo tree.

 The photos above are of a few of my students.  This is my oldest group - ages 5 and 6.  These guys were the main performers at the ceremony.  The next round of pictures were taken during the ceremony itself.  I will  do my best to explain and try to capture the simple beauty of it.  It was truly amazing - watching 5 and 6 year old children practice an ancient and beautiful tradition.  There were so many small steps and details involved.  I don't know how they learned to to everything.  I was very impressed.

First, a plate of Mochi* is placed in front
of the guest. 

 *Mochi: a traditional Japanese sweet made from glutenous rice.  It is pounded into a paste and molded into a shape.  These mochi were filled with azuki, which is a bean that is often ground into a paste, although sometimes eaten whole.  The paste is dark colored and almost looks like chocolate.  Trust me, it does not taste like chocolate.

After placing the mochi, a traditional bow.

Next the tea preparers came in.  They sat perfectly silent and prepared five bowls of green tea in unison.  The process of
preparing the tea was very intricate.  The first step involved folding a napkin several times and using it to
wipe the bowl that would be used to make the tea.  Before the bowl could be wiped, the whisk had to be taken out of the bowl and inspected.  Even that step was beautiful and choreographed.  Next, hot water is poured into the bowl, the green tea powder is added, and it is whisked.  Each time the students whisked the tea, they removed the whisk from the bowl, looked at it, turned it, and did it all again.

Pouring the water.

The tea served to the guests was brought out from the back by the rest of the students.  They placed the tea in front of each guest, bowed (as did the guest) and then left, returning to collect the tea bowl when the guest was finished with it.

Done!  These guys have finished their ceremony.  

Now it's time for the younger kids to perform their ceremony.  Such a great experience.