Tanabata

Posted by Claire Usmar on July 8, 2013 in Cultural, Quick bites | 1 Comment

Tanabata decorations in Tsu.

Tanabata is the star festival. Held this year in Tsu City on July 6th, children write their wishes on strips of brightly coloured paper and tie them to freshly cut bamboo. Here in Tsu they decorate a small bridge in the middle of the city turning it into a multicolour bamboo forest. Wishes can be anything from what they want to be when they grow up to ones that tug at the heartstrings like, “I want to spend more time playing with dad.” The wish in the photo on the left (pink writing) says, “I want to be a mother.”