Winter Pictures - Tamura Shrine Festival

It's February, and on the East Coast of the U.S. this means that there are many weeks of winter weather still ahead. It's still winter in Minakuchi too, but the weather has been getting warmer lately. People complain about the cold here all the time (and I am ashamed to say I have joined them on occasion....), but really. Go to Minnasota. Or Canada. Or Vermont. There usually isn't even snow on the ground here, so it made me smile when this happened:

Snow, wonderful snow! Makes me miss home.

There's just something about a day where you can stay home and watch the snow fall. Read a good book, cuddle in the warmth of the indoors, drink a warm cup of tea. Ahhh...

After staying in all of Saturday, I decided to check out a local festival in Tsuchiyama, a neighboring town. The towns in my area are rural so I wasn't expecting anything fancy. Boy, was I surprised! Traffic was backed up for about 15 minutes just to get parking near the shrine. The slowly falling snow made the experience seem like something out of a fairytale. The shrine was surrounded with warm food stalls and festival games. I saw lots of families lining up to buy arrows for good luck and to make wishes for their fortune. 

Hot sweet potatoes

A tori gate surrounded by food carts.

Summer festivals are fun, but winter festivals are cozy, too!

The snow probably won't last for long, but while it's here it reminds me that winter isn't so bad after all. And sooner or later, it will become spring. Better take advantage of the joys of winter while we can!

Happy 七夕

Today was Tanabata (七夕), a holiday that occurs every year on July 7th (7/7). The name Tanabata translates to "the seventh evening". Every year on Tanabata, Japan celebrates the love story of the princess Orihime and the cowherd Hikoboshi.

According to legend, Orihime was the daughter of the Tentei, or Sky King. Every day she wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the heavenly river, the Milky Way. Her father loved the beautiful cloth that she wove so she worked hard every day, but she was sad because she could not fall in love. Seeing this, her father arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (the cow herder star). At their meeting the fell deeply in love and were soon married. However, after their marriage Orihime stopped weaving her wonderful cloth and Hikoboshi did not perform his duty as a cow herder. The Sky King became angry and separated the two lovers, sending them to opposite sides of the heavenly river. Orihime begged her father to let them meet again. He was soon swayed by her sadness and capitulated, saying that they could meet on the seventh day of the seventh month if the princess finished her weaving. Orihime worked hard to finish in time, but they were not able to meet each other because the river was uncrossable. Realizing this, Orihime began to cry. Her tears drew a flock of magpies who promised to make a bridge for the princess to cross the river. The legend says that if it rains on Tanabata the magpies cannot make the bridge and Orihime and Hikoboshi must wait another year to see one another. 

Traditionally, Tanabata is a day to write your wish on a colored piece of paper. The wishes and other decorations are tied to bamboo and sometimes set afloat in a river. I have heard that there are several "matsuri", or festivals, throughout Japan and some people visit shrines on this day to make a wish. 

It has been raining since last night, so I guess the lovers will not meet this year. Regardless, Tanabata was honored the junior high school today. Kyuushoku today was Tanabata soup with star-shaped vegetables, star-shaped croquettes, and Tanabata Jelly. Students wrote their wishes on colored sheets of paper that were hung as decorations inside the school. Although it doesn't seem like a huge holiday as far as Japan goes, I think that it's an interesting story and a great excuse to hold a festival in the summer!