No. 356

Japanese people make a wish in Tanabata star festival

According to legend, on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar two star-crossed deities meet in the heavens and for just one day grant the wishes of anyone who has written them down on a piece of paper and hung them off bamboo plants.

It is part of a tradition practiced throughout Japan celebrating the arrival of the star festival Tanabata.

Children and adults write their wishes on narrow strips of coloured paper and hang them, along with other paper ornaments, on bamboo branches placed in the backyards or entrances of their homes. They then pray hard that their wishes will come true.

Read more |  BBC News, 20.06.12

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