Lucky 7

There are many occasions for celebrations through out Japan, like Hina Matsuri, or Girls Day which occurs on March 3rd, or Boys Day which occurs on May 5th, and also Tanabata, which occurs on
July 7th.
Seeing a pattern? 3/3, 5/5, 7/7 (and of course 1/1 is new years). So upon finding this out, I immediately as if there was a 9/9 or an 11/11 event. And my students pondered really hard for a moment, seeing as it almost made sense for there to be such events. But no such luck, or not that they could come up with.

July 7th, Tanabata, was originally one of those customs that pertained to the Chinese calender and would occur on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. Due to the predominance of the Georgian calender in Japan, the holiday would follow the natural course of its brothers and sisters and would take the same literal meaning and apply it to the Georgian calender, and take the date of July 7th.

And as all things go in Japan, there is, of course, an old story that goes with it. It is a story of falling in love between the daughter of the Universe, Orihime, and a lowly cow herder, Hikoboshi. Let me preface this story by saying that these two are constellations and live in the sky above. The daughter of the universe was clearly a princess who was gifted at weaving, and would often do so for her father, who was pleased. The daughter wanted more than anything to fall in love. She eventually came to meet this cow herder upon the banks of the river (the Milky Way) where she would weave. The two fell in love at first sight and were wed. And as with all couples, that is where the trouble began. The two became so involved with one another, that they took leave of their duties. Cows wandered the heavens and the Universe no longer received gifts of the bolts of weaved fabric from his daughter. Seeing their negligence, the Universe took away his daughter to maintain order in the heavens, and moved her across the Milky Way forever separating them. But all fathers bend at their tears of their daughters and agreed to allow them to meet once a year, on Tanabata. To allow her to cross the Milky Way river, a flock of magpies ( a black bird) formed a bridge so that she could meet her beloved on the other side. But if the day is rainy, it is said to be her tears at the inability to see through the clouds and make it to the other side to her Hikoboshi. Therefore they can only meet on clear evening when the sky is starry.
Outside of the legend, two stars, Altair and Vega, are separated by the Milky Way and on this day (in the lunar calendar) they can meet. Of course you can't see it if it is cloudy.

To celebrate this day, modern Japanese people will write wishes and poetry upon colorful origami paper, called tanzaku, and attach it to a bamboo limb. These colorful decorations are either burned (the ashes ascending to the heavens) or floated down a river (symbolic of the Milky Way river in the story) so that their prayers and wishes will reach the heavens and come true.
Additionally there will be more festivals held in August when the stars are in accordance with the lunar calendar. In Kyoto, there will be more tanzuka bamboo structures, lanterns floating down river (Horikawa), and bamboo artworked exhibitions, as well as an illuminated walkway representing the Milky Way. Basically a nice little romantic evening for couples.

Happy New Year - Again!!

Japanese people no longer celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Once before the World War, Japanese people celebrated this custom along with the Chinese and Koreans. Enter American traditions and the holiday was set on the back burner, with more importance shown upon the new year that is set by the Georgian calendar. Japan officially stopped using the Chinese calendar in 1873; long before they stopped celebrating this as as a holiday. I believe this is because Japanese just love their holidays. There are still many holidays in Japan that began in the Edo period and are thus celebrated with the moon phases, or Tsuki-okure, but many more are now being celebrated with the Georgian calendar. Others still, are in the spirit of the lunar calendar but celebrated with the Georgian calendar, like Tanabata which is held on the 7th day of the 7th month according to the lunar calendar, but is now held on July 7th.
Interestingly is that Japanese people still very much follow the Chinese zodiac. These too are vibrantly celebrated and displayed on January first. In the smaller villages and towns in Japan, you might still find some celebrators of the Chinese New Year which hold their customs to the lunar new year day. But you will find more revelers if you look in the local China Towns. There are some decent sized districts in Yokohama as well as Kobe that spritz their area up and put on a show. I had the pleasure of going to the Kobe lunar new year festival.
There you can see speeches, performances, try wonderful Chinese New Year delicacies, and most importantly, the dances. There are two specific dances involving tigers and a Dragon. These elaborate dances utilize the force of many people who are used to support the dragon. The tiger costume is a much smaller operation with just a few people (2-3). The tiger costume is not propped up as the Dragon is and it has full functionality of its facial movements.

 In addition to the dances, I would always recommend a taste of the street food. These vendors sell anything from croquets to pork buns and dumplings, which is a must have as per Chinese New Year tradition. It is said to bring you wealth and prosperity in the new year, but then what doesn't?

 A video of the Kobe Dragon Dance: