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July in the traditional Japanese calendar is known as Fumizuki (文月). Translated as “the month of writings,” Fumizuki refers to the practice of writing wishes on brightly colored paper strips during the Tanabata festival. Also known as the Star Festival, Tanabata (七夕, evening of the seventh) is held each year on July 7th and celebrates the once a year meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi.
Orihime, the Weaver Princess, was the daughter of the God of the Heavens, and wove beautiful fabrics by a mighty heavenly river we know as the Milky Way. So consumed was she by her task of weaving that Princess Orihime despaired that she would never find true love. Seeing his daughter, who he loved dearly, in pain, her father arranged for Orihime to meet a cow herder known as Hikoboshi. The two fell deeply in love and were soon married. So intense was their love that Orihime stopped weaving and Hikoboshi stopped tending his cows, allowing them to wander the heavens.
Enraged at the neglect of their duties, Orihime’s father forbade them from being together and banished Hikoboshi to the opposite side of the Milky Way, separating the two for eternity. Distraught, Orihime pleaded with her father to relent. Out of love for his daughter, the God of the Heavens took pity and decreed that the two could meet once a year - if Orihime returned to her weaving. From that day forward, each year on the seventh day of the seventh month a flock of magpies create a bridge for the lovers to cross the Milky Way and reunite. But it is said if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies will not come and Orihime and Hikoboshi have to wait another year to be together.
The Japanese celebrate Tanabata by writing wishes, often in the form of poetry, on narrow strips of colored paper known as tanzaku (短冊, strips). The five colors used, or goshiki (五色), represent the ancient elemental flow of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each color has a specific association: green relating to personal growth, red respect for parents and ancestors, gold improving relations with others, white fulfilling obligations and responsibilities, and purple excelling academically. Once the appropriate color is chosen and wish written, the tanzaku are often hung from a bamboo branch with the wishes of others. As the night sky fills with stars, these bamboo “wish trees” are often set ablaze releasing their wishes to travel the heavens.
The bamboo leaves rustle,
and sway under the eaves.
The stars twinkle
like gold and silver grains of sand.
The five-color paper strips
I have written them.
The stars twinkle,
watching from above.
- Man'yōshū
