July and August are actually neighborhood festival months in Japan. In residential areas, traditionally people organize neighborhood communities in every several blocks called "Chonai-kai". These "Chonai-kai" communities usually manage local activities such as small festivals, and public space cleanup in the community, and share information.
Since July and August are the traditional seasonal period called "Obon", which has been the time to visit own home town for family gathering since old times. It is said that during "Obon" the souls of our dead family would come back to our house for a short visit, and we welcome them with offerings, memorial services and festivals. Therefore each "Chonai-kai" community holds small local festivalsincluding "Bon-dance" in this season. "Bon-dance" is a general name for dances with traditional music practiced in Obon season.
At these small local festivals other typical festival activities such as "Mikoshi (portable shrines)", "Dashi (traditional festival cart)", traditional instruments performances and parades are often seen as well shown in the photos above. These photos were taken at Mejirodai Festival in Hachioji city held on July 16th and 17th.
Perhaps you can come across these local festivals while walking in town!
Yesterday I introduced a traditional seasonal event on July 7th named "Tanabata", and I'd like to introduce more detailed story of the Tanabata Legend. As I wrote previously, the Tanabata legend was originally imported from China but it was combined with Japanese seasonal custom to form the current style of Tanabata event in Japan.
The legend is a romantic story about a couple representing two actual stars like stories of constellations in Greek myths. Well, the story is below.
...Long ago, there was a daughter of a god in the sky named Ori-hime (means Weaving-princess). She is representing a star which is known as "Vega" in constellation Lyra located in the west side of the Milky Way. Her job was weaving cloth and she was working diligently every day. Then her father god started to look for a good husband-to-be for her.
Soon the father god found a nice diligent young man in the east side of the Milky Way. His name was Hiko-boshi (means Male-star) and his job was taking care of cattle at the Milky Way. Thus the father god arranged marriage of his daughter and Hiko-boshi. They fell in love and were very happy with the marriage.
However, the young couple started to enjoy staying together too much and neglected their jobs. Ori-hime stopped weaving and Hiko-boshi stopped taking care of cattle. Even after the father god admonished them, they didn't change their attitude. Eventually the father god became really angry and he split the young couple and made them live separately on the opposite side of the Milky Way.
Ori-hime and Hiko-boshi regretted a lot for their laziness and apologized to the father god but father god was too angry to forgive them. Long after the father god confirmed they had been working diligently again as they did before the marriage, he said they were allowed to have a date once a year. Since then they started to have a date on July 7th, and that's the Tanabata Day.
It's a nice romantic legend that most Japanese know, but recently illumination at night has been too bright and people in cities can't see both of the stars and the Milky Way. Therefore, a new attempt started in some areas recently and people are trying to "Light-down" the areas to see the two Tanabata legendary stars and the Milky Way. It's a nice Eco-friendly idea. Probably the star couple would also feel happy to have their annual date quietly!
July 7th is "Tanabata Day (Star Festival)" in Japan. "Tanabata" is one of the major seasonal events in traditional Japanese custom although it is not a national holiday. For "Tanabata" event, people write their wishes on fancy paper strips and hang them on bamboo-trees (Sasa) with various paper decorations just like Christmas ornaments hanging on Christmas trees.
So these decorated bamboo trees are often seen at schools, shopping malls, and even outside on streets in the beginning of July. It is still a very common event where people enjoy participating. It is said that bamboo trees grow straight toward the sky, and with the rustling sound of the leaves it would deliver people's wishes to the stars of Tanabata legend.
Tanabata legend is a romantic story between two stars in the sky. It was originally imported from China and taken into Japanese custom. According to the legend July 7th is a special day for the star couple because they have a once-a-year date over the Milky Way. Japanese people started thinking the star couple would grant their wishes on this happy day, so people write their wishes on paper strips and hang them on bamboo trees.
This is a kind of "Jumping on the bandwagon" wish making, so people write any kinds of wishes casually, such as "Want to hit a lottery!", "Want to get a high scores at the next exam!", "Want to stay healthy!" and so on. If you find paper strips and pens beside Tanabata bamboo trees in a shopping mall, it's free to write any personal wishes and hang the paper.
Please try! Hope you have a nice Tanabata Day!
