Photo of the Day: Tanabata

I’m a day late, but here is a wee post on Tanabata, the Star Festival.

Tanabata celebrates the reunion of Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair), lovers separated by the Milky Way all year—except for the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunisolar calendar.

While some regions still wait for the traditional date to celebrate (which varies by year), the general celebration is July 7th. Leading up to the day, people write wishes on tanzaku (pieces of paper) and hang them on decorated bamboo branches.

The photo above is from Kamakura Station, where decorated branches hung—but unfortunately, no tanzaku.