I had totally forgotten but last Thursday was Tanabata (七夕), also called the Star Festival. It's the day that the two stars Hiko-boshi (Altair) and Ori-hime (i.e. Vega), who were seperated by the Milky Way, are able to come together.
On this holiday, we all write a wish on the pieces of paper called Tan-zaku (短冊) and hang them on bamboo branches. These tan-zaku were hanging across from a restaurant in Nakai so I peaked at a few of the wishes.
The one in the first photo is my favorite. It says "I wish for everyone to laugh like crazy so that their jaws fall off." I guess the person felt that we needed to laugh more. Below are a few more wishes I liked...
"Wishing for a cool summer." (pink)
"May the earth stop shaking."
"Please! Let me grow (height-wise) just a little bit more!"
I thought the last one was pretty funny! Guys tend to worry about their height here in Japan. All these wishes made me think about what I would wish for.
Do you have a wish? What would you wish for?
I like all those wishes - what a great tradition!
ReplyDeleteI like this tradition! That's funny about the height wish It's probably too cliche to wish for world peace. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tradition and some interesting wishes. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteDarryl and Ruth :)
That's a fun tradition. Wishing for more laughter is sweet. The last one is funny because you had to put (height-wise) in parentheses. It's not only height guys are worried about (I'm not being rude; it's a fact. LOL)! My wish? For the world, a little more tolerance and compassion. For you, your heart's desires. For me, the strength to keep climbing this steep learning curve I am on... (I never can give a simple answer, can I?)
ReplyDeleteBeing quite tall and with no hope of growing some more, I am now more worried about my weight...
ReplyDeleteThat the earth stop shaking is a quite compelling wish, but here I will gladly settle for a cool summer!
That's a cool holiday! And from those wish cards you've seen, we know it can be so much fun too. Since the laughing one is my fave, I will second it. May we laugh so hard our jaws will fall out! lol.
ReplyDeleteHave a crazy laughing weekend Kaori! We all need one of those, once in a while. Cheers.
I wish we had traditions like these. One wish only: good health...
ReplyDeleteI like the last - very cute! I like the first too :)
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing you a Good Weekend!
I went to the Kappabashi Tanabata Festival this morning. It was beautiful, but everybody was hot and (very!) sweaty and exhausted. Right now all I wish is that Tokyo's summers could be just a few degrees cooler ...
ReplyDeleteSuch a great tradition Kaori, I do like the 'may the earth stop shaking' wish, I think there has been way too much shaking going on.
ReplyDeletehaha, can't help reading them too.
ReplyDeletea nice way to practice what i've learned. ^0^
but i like the 1st one.
i do have tons of wishes but i'd rather keep them ~shhh! ^0^
i hope better days will come kaori.
I love this. In Pasadena, Yoko Ono had a wish tree installation. I was sorry to see it go because I loved reading other people's wishes -- from the mundane to the deeply moving.
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are wonderful.