Tanabata ☆

July 7th is called Tanabata, or Star Festival in Japan. It has originated form an old Chinese tale.

'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). 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) 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. Therefore people pray for good weather and also make wishes for themselves.'
via:  http://en.wikipedia.org

For this reason, people write their wishes on a colourful strips of paper (called 短冊 tanzaku) and hang them on bamboo branches. Afterwards, they prey hard for their wishes to come true. This is a Japanese way of celebrating Tanabata!

On this day, I went to Kyoto to celebrate Tanabata with crowds! I took a bus to the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, which is associated with the Kami (Shinto god) of education. I got myself a good luck charm to help me in studying Japanese:) The Shrine was truly beautiful with an additional touch of Tanabata decorations:

At the end of my stay in Kyoto, I set down to enjoy various performances. Cute Japanese primary school kids were singing and playing various instruments as a part of the Tanabata celebrations:

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Afterwards, I headed towards Osaka to meet Mayumi for dinner and a sleep-over! We had what Mayumi called 'a Korean style BBQ'. Everything was sooo delicious that I have probably eaten for 2 or even 3 people! At the end we played すいかわり (suika-wari) which is literally smashing a watermelon game! One person is being blindfolded and turned around 10 times in order to lose his/her concentration. Afterwards, the blindfolded person is handed a stick and he/she tries to approach a watermelon in order to smash it! Various people participate until the watermelon is smashed in half! Of course, you eat the watermelon after the game which makes it a perfect desert! 

I really enjoyed my stay at Mayumi's and had a lot of fun! 

I just regret that I can't speak fluently and express all my opinions in Japanese! I honestly have to study even more to master it sooner! I am such a talker in Polish and English and it makes it very frustrating when I cannot express everything in Japanese! Agrrrr...

がんばって Aga!