Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival 2013

Each summer, two stars, represented in an old Chinese story as the weaver girl and the shepherd, come together in the night sky after a year apart.

In Japan, the meeting of these two stars on July 7th is known as Tanabata, which literally translates to "evening of the seventh". It is celebrated mainly by young children, who write their wishes on colored papers, tying these to the branches of a bamboo tree. It's believed your wish will come true due to the meeting of these two distant stars.

I visited the second largest Tanabata festival in Japan (the largest is in Sendai, from August 6~8), which takes place right in my home prefecture of Kanagawa. The host city is the working class town of Hiratsuka 「平塚」. Below are photos from the event. Please enjoy!

Food is a necessity at these festivals. Shops open outside stalls and try to lure customers with delicious smells. Being a Canadian, I simply cannot resist any donut. Below, were unique "donut sticks" called cat tails (o_O oh noz!!). I bought two -- caramel and chocolate. Both good! =^_^=

Cat tail donut sticks. ¥130 each. ($1.30 / 40 baht)

 A sign near the main festival area greeting visitors:

Giant, ornately decorated lanterns, which hang from equally huge bamboo poles, are a feature of Tanabata. The festival in Hiratsuka has a contest, awarding prizes for the best lanterns. As a result, some entries were quite impressive.

Below, one lantern depicts three famous Japanese folk stories...

....another featured popular Disney character, Ariel. (Disney is HUGE in Japan!)

Below are the colored papers on which festival attendees can write their wish for the year. There were several spots along the main festival route in which you could hang your paper. Popular requests include:
"To be healthy"
"To pass the entrance test to OOO university"
"To become a professional athlete" etc.

I wrote one too -- that I wanted to drive all over Kanagawa by car with my friend, because I love road trips. ^_^

This was my friend's favorite entry -- an old steam train. Japanese are very nostalgic about trains in general, as they are so widely used here. There is an old, famous anime series, Galaxy Express 999, Vol. 1featuring a train which travels through space, thus fueling the popularity and love of trains in Japan.

I spotted something very unusual at the festival -- lanterns produced and sponsored by the Kingdom of Cambodia!! Cool!

Kanagawa University had this, very kawaii, star lantern: 

Another very ornate lantern in the shape of a ship's sail: 

I liked this one, and upon closer inspection.....

....found a very happy crab!

Yay! It's raining oranges!! Weeee!!

Finally, to give you a sense of the crowds and how large these lanterns are, I snapped this photo:

Summer is upon us here in Japan, and the season is dominated each week with some kind of festival. I will try to get out and photograph some of the best. Happy summer holidays! ^_^

Hiratsuka Tanabata festival is held each year from July 7 ~ 10. On the final day, you can enjoy fireworks. See info, a map and video HERE. (via welovejapan)

Interested in teaching your children about Japanese festivals, holidays and other culture? Try this: All About Japan: Stories, Songs, Crafts and More. You can also read more about famous Japanese folk tales here: A Treasury of Japanese Folk Tales: Bilingual English and Japanese Edition