Tanabata: The Star Festival

お知らせ: アメリカ人は七夕の歌を歌いません。うちの妻は日本人なんで、子守歌として娘に歌ったのです。でも、僕は聞くとなんの歌か最初に分かりませんでした。七夕についてのを読んでからびっくりしていて、これを載せたのです。誤解は申し訳ございません。

July 7th, or around this time, is one of Japan’s most famous festivals called Tanabata (七夕) sometimes called the “Star Festival” or “Seventh Night”. The good folks at About.com, have a nice description of the story behind Tanabata, so rather than re-inventing the wheel, take a minute to go there. It’s a very romantic story, and a popular time for young and old to go out and enjoy the weather.

According to my trusty cultural guidebook, this holiday is also the 4th of 5 sekku (節句) or seasonal holidays which also includes Nanakusa, Girls’ Day and Childrens’ Day (formerly Boys’ Day). The cowherd in the story, Hikoboshi (彦星) is traditionally thought to be the star Altair, while Orihime (織り姫) the weaving girl is Vega, with the Milky Way (ama no gawa 天の川) separating them. Also, the book stated the most well-known local festival for Tanabata is in the city of Sendai.¹

The Festival has been a part of Japanese culture even since it made contact with China many, many centuries ago, due to its origins in Chinese culture. The Festival is mentioned in antiquity in such places as the Pillow Book among others. I’ve never been able to see Japan in the summer (it’s stiflingly hot I hear not to mention expensive to fly), so I have never had a chance to enjoy it myself.

As for customs, the best known are the small wishes people write and tie onto bamboo trees, called tanzaku (短冊). As explained in Wikipedia, these are often burned on or shortly after the festival. The article also mentions a song for Tanabata I happen to know very well:

Sasa no ha sara-sara (笹の葉　さらさら)
Nokiba ni yureru (軒端にゆれる)
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira (お星様　キラキラ)
Kingin sunago (金銀砂子)

With their translation:

The bamboo leaves rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars twinkle;
Gold and silver grains of sand.

I know this song well because my wife (who is Japanese) used to frequently sing it as a lullaby to our little girl until she reached about three years old, but I thought it was just a lullaby. I didn’t realize the song was associated with Tanabata. Anyway, it’s a very sweet song, so if you get a chance to hear it sung, don’t miss out.

Also, after writing this post, I found a poem in the famous Japanese anthology, hyakunin isshu (百人一首) that mentions Tanabata, by Chūnagon Yakamochi (中納言家持):

かささぎの kasasagi no
わたせる橋に wataseru hashi ni
おく霜の oku shimo no
白きを見れば shiroki wo mireba
夜ぞふけにける yozofukenikeru

I can’t find an English translation of this poem and my Japanese is not the best, but according to explanations I’ve read (and if I read correctly), this poem compares the late night wintry frost on the stairs of the Imperial Palace to the flock of magpies spreading their wings as a bridge over the Milky Way so that Orihime and Hikoboshi could meet one another for Tanabata. Hopefully someone knows a better way to translate this poem.

But as for Tanabata, wherever you are, if you look up in the starry sky July 7th,¹ see if you can find the two stars and reflect on this classic story. I’d be curious to hear from others if have any good anecdotes, by the way.

P.S. Project Gutenberg has a collection of Lafcadio Hearn’s writings, including an essay about Tanabata (titled “THE ROMANCE, OF THE MILKY WAY”) worth reading I think.

¹ UPDATE: The city of Sendai has been hit especially hard by the Great Tohoku Earthquake in Japan in March 2011, but people there are working hard to make this year’s Tanabata Festival one to remember.

² Apologies for everyone in the Southern Hemisphere who can neither see these stars, nor enjoy summer in July.