Tanabata

Check old posts for tanabata. I forgot to do it this year! The children are older now and aren't that interested, but Papa and Baba and Aunt wrote their wishes.

Tanabata

Today was tanabata. I went shopping and took the camera hoping to take some pictures of decorations, but I didn't see any. Here is the take (bamboo) branch that Aunt put outside our front doors (we share a house but we have separate entrances.) We hung wishes on it. It looks dried out! Check Kids Web Japan for more information and click on the label below for past posts about tanabata.

Kids Web Japan also has a manga story about tanabata.
Kids Web Japan--tanabata.

Tanabata Decorations

Today was the Earth Live concerts. There were concerts all over the world to call attention to taking care of the earth. Concerts were held on every continent. A concert was held in Japan, too.

Today was also tanabata in Japan. It is a day when wishes are hung on branches of bamboo. Eyes turn to the skies at night to see two bright stars. Click on the link below for the story at Kids Web Japan. To see last year's tanabata decorations, click on the label below.

Usually, the decorations are made of paper. Aunt chose shiny paper this year. Fortunately, we recycle almost everything.


Kids Web Japan--info. about tanabata

Kids Web Japan--story of tanabata

Tanabata

Today was Tanabata. Here is our Tanabata decoration on our porch. There have been branches of bamboo outside homes and shops everywhere for about a week. My son had one in his elementary school classroom. Now that I think of it, there weren't many outside homes. Perhaps people put them inside the entry hall. The weather has been pretty unpredictable lately.

The branches, called sasa , are sold at flower shops. People decorate them with handmade paper decorations. They also write wishes on strips of paper. The branches are usually put in a container of water to keep them fresh. Jiji used to burn everything promptly the next day, but there are now city laws against it. Now we throw it all away. As you may remember, we have a garbage day when we put out burnable items.



I took this picture above of a branch in the hallway of the elementary school when I visited. It ended up decorated in a classroom.



This was outside a community center.




This was at a shopping center. They had already set up shops but were setting up games for tomorrow's matsuri or festival.




Kids Web Japan--information about tanabata

Kids Web Japan--story of tanabata