Tanabata

Tanabata is a special ceremony that is celebrated in Japan on July 7 in some places, August 7 in others. It is based on an old Chinese folktale where the granddaughter, named Weaving Maiden, of the Queen Mother of the Western Heaven descended to Earth where she married a herdsboy. In Heaven, she wove brocades that her grandmother would use to decorate the sky. The were very happy and had tow children. He would tend his herds and she would weave. The Queen Mother searched for several months. When she found her granddaughter, she dragged her back to heaven. The herdsboy pleaded with the Queen Mother for her return, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Both of them became very depressed, so they did not work. He would not tend his herds and she would not weave. The Queen Mother became so irritated by this that she turned them both into stars. The herdsboy became the star Altair, and the girl became the Weaving Star (Vega). They were separated by the River of Heaven, the Milky Way. They were only allowed to me together during the night of the seventh day, of the seventh month of the old lunar calendar. On that night, all of the magpies in the world fly to heaven to form a bridge where the two lovers are reunited.

People write wishes on paper. They can be for health, studies, good health, prosperity in business, and a wide variety of other things. Sendai has a big fireworks display on August 5.