Tanabata is held throughout Japan on July 7th. It is the day Japanese people decorate a bamboo tree with brightly colored origami or hand made decorations. On the back of the Origami papers we write wishes. Wishes for oneself, one`s family, friends or other special people so the wishes will eventually come true. Many stars are gathering in the sky on this day and looks like a river of stars, Amanogawa, the Milky Way. It is very beautiful. There are many stories about Amanogawa, and one goes something like this:

Once upon a time, there lived a couple. There was a girl named Orihime (Vega) who was a weaver; and a boy named Hikoboshi (Altair) who was a cowherder. They liked each other very much and they planned to get married one day. Orihime`s father, however, was against this. Hikoboshi never qave up and he would ask the father many times for the right to marry his daughter. The father finally decides to check if Hikoboshi is a responsible young man by making him take care of his melons (Uri). Although Hikoboshi begins by carefully looking after the melons, he soon finds out that the sun is scorching hot and he became so thirsty that he drinks up all the juice from the melons. Orihime`s father becomes so angry that he separates the couple by sending Hikoboshi to the other side of the great river made when Hikoboshi spilled the melons he was drinking up. The father allows the two of them to meet each other only once a year, which is 7-7, or the 7th of July Only on this day does a bridge cross over the Amanogawa for them to meet and fulfill their wish to be together And the day is called Tanabata. What will YOU wish for when the Tanabata festival comes around next time?

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