Tanabata (The Star Festival)
At the Star Festival, which originated in Chinese mythology, women make wishes to improve their skills.
The origins of the Tanabata Festival, which falls on July 7 of the lunar calendar, can be traced back to an old Chinese myth:
The emperor agreed to allow Kengyu (the cowherd, Altair) and Shokujo (the weaver, Vega) to marry. However, the couple were so close that they would do nothing but play. In anger, the emperor separated the two, but he agreed to let them cross the Amanogawa River (the Milky Way) and meet once a year. The oldest reference to this myth in literature is from the Later Han dynasty’s 'Shimin Getsurei' written by Cui Shi. The text says that on this day, people would air out their books and make wishes in correspondence with Kengyu (also referred to as Kako) and Shokujo’s reunion. By the middle of the Northern and Southern dynasties, this had evolved into the tradition of Kikkoden, in which women would wish for improvement in needlework skills.
This tradition of wishing for skills advanced, and people began decorating their altars with vegetables or liquor to offer as prayers. In Japan, these two stars are called Hikoboshi and Orihime. Orihime is also referred to as Tanabatatsume. Tanabatatsume (literally: woman weaving clothes) is an ancient Japanese belief in which people would weave clothes to give to gods who were thought to come down and visit on the night of July 7. This symbolized the gods receiving and unburdening the people of their impurity. In the Nara era, the Chinese custom of Kikkoden combined with the Japanese Tanabatatsume tradition to become the Star Festival, where people would decorate bamboo branches with five-colored paper strips and wish for women’s improvement in artistic skill. Since the calendar change, which occurred in the Meiji era, the festival often falls on July 7.
Related People, Things and Events
Books
Related Works
Videos
Past Exhibitions
| Title | shusai | Place | open | close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 夢二郷土美術館 | 2018/6/30 | 2018/8/7 | ||
| 夢二郷土美術館分館 (夢二生家・少年山荘) | 2017/7/7 | 2017/8/6 | ||
| 静岡市美術館 | 2012/6/23 | 2012/8/19 | ||
| 熊本県立美術館 | 2008/7/23 | 2008/7/27 | ||
| 平塚市美術館 | 2007/6/1 | 2007/7/22 | ||
Institutions Holding Related Materials
The top 3 Tanabata Festivals
宮城県仙台市で行われる、国内最大規模の七夕祭り。例年、8月6日～8日に開催。
神奈川県平塚市で行われる、日本有数の七夕まつり。例年、7月上旬にJR平塚駅北口商店街を中心とした市内全域で開催。
愛知県一宮市で行われ、三大七夕祭りの一つと称される。例年7月中旬もしくは下旬に、一宮市本町アーケード内を中心に市内全域で開催。
External Links
宮城県仙台市の企業・鐘崎 笹かま館に併設。七夕の歴史を紹介しているほか、「仙台七夕まつり」の七夕飾りを常設展示している。