TANABATA/七夕

The woodcut by Hiroshige Utagawa

7th July is an annual event in the Summer. we call it "TANABATA".


My childhood, I loved this event. because we can ask our wishes to stars!


My wishes was like:
-Wish my swimming better
-Hope my granny and grandpa will live long, healthy life.
etc...


The day was always raining or cloudy when I was child.
But the weather looks OK today. hope we can see the stars!


Enjoy your "TANABATA" and ask your wishes to stars :)


The story of "TANABATA" is:
Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川 Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder Star) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.
 (Text from wikipedia)




今日は七夕ですね。
みなさんはどう過ごされますか？
子供の頃の記憶では、学校で七夕飾りを作ったり、
町内会で集まりがあって、みんなで花火をしたり。


お願いごとは何をしたかと思い返してみると
「水泳が上手になりますように。」とか
「じーちゃん、ばーちゃんが長生きしますように。」とかだったように思います。
自分のお願いごと、覚えてますか？


それから、いつもがっかりしていたことに
「七夕はいつも雨。」でした。
私は東海地方に住んでいたのですが、ほとんど晴れた記憶がありません。
きっと他の地域はお天気だったのかもしれないですね。


今日のアムスは晴れそうな気がします。
（まだ朝なのでどうなるかわかりませんが。。。）


さあ、どんなお願いごとしようかな？？
みなさま、素敵な七夕お過ごしくださいね。