On 7th July Japanese people celebrate the Tanabata festival.
The Decoration for the Tanabata festival in the local grocery store.
But this year we had a disaster caused by torrential rain in the west of Japan on the day.
The floods and the landslides destroyed houses and lifeline systems and killed over two hundred people in Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, Kyoto, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Kochi, Hyogo, Kagoshima, Saga, Gifu, Shiga, and Miyazaki.
My town is located in east of Ehime prefecture and luckily was safe from a disaster. But in islands and south of Ehime, 25 were killed and many people are living as refugees now. People live in areas not so far from here are suffered from suspension of water supply and heat wave after the rain.
The handmade ornament made by my mother.
Tanabata festival is based on a legend. Once upon a time there was a princess who was expert at weaving called Orihime. One day her father met a good man who took care of cows. He introduced Hikoboshi to his daughter.
Orihime and Hikoboshi had a happy married life. But they left their works undone and that annoyed their father. He separated them to west and east side of the Milky Way.
Then they were dispirited and do nothing separated from each other. So their father permitted them to meet each other once a year on 7th July.
People became to believe that at the night on the day Orihime can meet Hikoboshi, their wish will also come true. So they put their wish on Tanzaku(a small card) and hook it on bamboo tree for Tanabata festival.
This year many people had a very rough time on the Tanabata festival day. I wish them a peaceful and happy evening celebrating the Tanabata festival next year.
