Tanabata, “the night of the seventh”, is a holiday celebrated on July 7^th every year. It has roots in the Chinese Qi Xi festival, but has a unique character in Japanese culture. It is primarily celebrated at night time when the stars are in view.

As many folk tales do, the story of Tanabata involves a princess named Ori-hime (ori refers to weaving, hime means princess), and Hikoboshi (referring to “cow herding” and “star”). When they met, they fell in love at first sight and married soon after.

Being deeply in love, they spent their time together, but allowed their work to suffer. Orihime no longer wove clothes by the bank of the Milky Way as she used to, and Hiko-boshi didn’t take good enough care of his herds. As a result, Tentei, Orihime’s father, used his power to separate them, placing the Milky Way between them so they could not meet.

When Tentei saw how sad he’d made his daughter, he consented to allow the two lovers to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. He made a rule however that they could only meet if Orihime had finished all of her weaving for the year.

Magpies are said to form a bridge over the Milky Way (called the Amanogawa in Japanese) so that the lovers can meet. If it rains on July 7^th, however, the magpies are unable to come out, and so the lovers are forced to wait another year to meet. That’s why most people hope for clear skies on Tanabata.

Several parts of Japan hold special festivals for Tanabata. One famous festival is held in Sendai. Surprising to most visitors, the Tanabata festival in Sendai is held between August 4^th and August 6^th.

Many local areas will hold festivals in parks around July 7^th, and there is often a call for people to turn off their lights in the evening so that the stars, Vega and Altair, will be more easily visible.

Tanabata is not a national holiday so all public services and schools are open.

During Tanabata, people also pray for their daughters to become adept at Japanese calligraphy or other crafts. Traditionally, bamboo poles are set up in parks or gardens and people write short poems or wishes on long strips of paper and tie them to the bamboo.

There are also a lot of environmental programs built around the Tanabata holiday, including the Tanabata Light Down initiative that takes place all over Japan and is designed to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions by asking individuals, companies, and public places to turn off unnecessary lighting in the evening on Tanabata.

Tanabata gives people an excuse to dust off their kimonos and go strolling around in the evening. If you find a park or neighborhood having a festival, you'll get a chance to try some of the traditional Japanese foods and see a lot of people enjoying a (hopefully) cool summer evening celebrating the one day of the year that the Weaving Princess and Cow Herder can meet.