Happy Tanabata day, the star lovers festival

Happy Tanabata day, the star lovers festival

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Well, I would like to wish a happy Tanabata day to all the people of Japanese and Chinese descent, and lovers of Asian culture. The Tanabata festival is also know as the Star Lovers festival, the Star Weaver festival, or the Star festival. This Japanese festival owes it’s roots to the Chinese legend of the meeting of the stars Vega and Altair, and this festival is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month, this day can vary according to which calendar (lunar or Gregorian) the city, town or village follows.

The Tanabata festival has always been one of my favorite Asian festivals, I once had the pleasure of actually being in Japan for the Tanabata festival in 1987, and what an enjoyable sight it was, I only wished that at the time I was more interested in taking some pictures rather than chasing some tail, oh well, to be young again.

There are many versions of the Tanabata legend and below I will write a small summary of my favorite version of the story.

The god of Firmament who lived in the High Plain of Heaven had a very beautiful daughter named Tanabata, and it was her duty to spend her time weaving garments for her father. One day while at her loom she spied a handsome lad named Hikoboshi leading an ox, and she at once fell in love with the lad. Her father knowing his daughter’s thoughts immediately consented to her marriage.

But, they loved well but not wisely, Tanabata neglected her weaving duties to her father, and Hikoboshi let is oxen wander unattended across the High Plain of Heaven, greatly angering the God of Firmament. He commanded that the lover be separated from one another by the Celestial River.

The separated lovers’ grief was so great that soon the God of Firmament consented to allow the lovers to meet one night a year to sooth their loneliness. So on the seventh night of the seventh month the lovers come to the banks of the Celestial River and wait for a company of Magpies to form a bridge so the lover can finally be together. It is said that if the weather is good and the Star Lovers meet that one can look up into the night sky and see the stars Vega (Tanabata) and Altair (Hikoboshi) shine with the colors blue, green, red, yellow, and white.

Now this only happens if the weather is good, if there is rain then the Celestial River might become too wide for even the Magpies to span, and then the weary lovers will have to wait another year to meet. In times past, young children would sing “oh, weather, be clear” before the Weaving festival.

Now, Tanabata is celebrated by people placing fresh cut bamboos on the roofs of their houses or placing them in the ground next to their houses. They attach strips of colored paper containing poems or praises to the lovers to the bamboos, these strips of paper also contain wishes for good crop harvests, good grades, good health, good wealth, and even romance.

On the night of Tanabata, Japanese people can go out in casual clothing or in more traditional clothing such as Yukatas. While each town celebrates the festival differently, the most common events are goldfish scooping, karaoke singing, sumo contests, food booths, fireworks, and boat rides if near water.

Below are some anime related pictures.

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Telepathy Shojo Ran 10 review, fireworks and friendship.

Telepathy Shojo Ran 10 review, fireworks and friendship.

Posted by animewriter under Adventure, Drama, Supernatural, Telepathy Shojo Ran | Tags: anime, anime adventure, Anime Series, anime supernatural, Telepathy Shojo Ran |
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This episode begins with Ran running into Midori along the beach, and they talk about summer break and tonight’s firework display. Ran is excited about the display because last year she had to go with Rin but now she has a boyfriend, Midori wants to go with Rin, but Ran tells her he has Judo practice then he’s going to the fireworks with a friend. Midori gets upset at Ran because she won’t say if Rin’s friend is a boy or girl, but finally Ran tells her it’s a guy so she still has hope.

Just as they are about to separate, Ran invites Midori to go to the fireworks with her and Rui but she says no thanks, then Ran invites Midori to breakfast but she refuses, poor Midori, she missed out on a home cooked meal by Rin. After the meal Ran gets ready for the fireworks and then she and Rui agree on the time and place where they’ll meet for the fireworks.

Then we see Midori practicing the violin at her place, as she’s playing she has flashbacks of the bad time when she was rejected by her mother and others. But, she’s says that she hasn’t been having those thoughts lately and she chalks it up to her friendship with Ran, and after a while Midori steps out to grab a bite to eat.

As Ran and Rui are out shopping they try to call Midori many times but she’s out too, Midori seems a little lonely by herself. Midori is cheered up when she hears Ran’s messages when she gets home. Later when Rui stops by to pickup Ran they again try calling Midori but they only get her answering machine.

Ran and Rui head to the fireworks and Midori feeling kind of lonely heads down to the waterfront too. As the fireworks begin Ran and Rui are enjoying the show and Midori begins to walk through the crowd. Midori is starting to feel lost and surrounded by the crowd of people she doesn’t know, then Ran manages to locate her and then they enjoy the show together. In the end everyone enjoys the fireworks with either family or friends. Well, that’s all for this episode.

Well, this was a pretty mellow episode of TSR with a summer festival being the backdrop for the story. At first glance, one might think that this episode was about Ran and Rui going out on a date together but you would be wrong. While this episode included many ongoing themes, Ran trying to get some alone time with Rui, Midori wanting to get closer to Rin, or Midori’s cocky and sassy nature, but the heart of this episode was how deeply Ran’s friendship has affected Midori in many ways.

When Midori and Ran first meet, Midori was a deeply lonely and bitter girl, she basically thought that she could never be normal or never have normal relationships. So, she disdained trying to interact with regular people out of fear of getting hurt and rejected. But, as time passed, Ran’s friendship with Midori has lead her to want normal human interaction. Through Ran, Midori has meet people who were willing to accept her for who she is and she feels comfortable around them because she doesn’t fear being hurt.

Midori now wants or at least deep down needs to be a normal girl who would like things that normal girls would want; to feel cute and beautiful, have friends, and even want a little romance and love with Ran’s brother. I really hope that Midori can find a little peace, joy, and love, because she had so little of it as a child.

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