Ayako Egawa wrote to me this morning about the Star Festival in Japan.  Here’s what she wrote. It is Star festival, "Tanabata" today. I remember you told about this tradition in your daughter’s class. I saw a beautiful Tanabata display at the entrance of a building. I’d love to show the...

I’m going into my daughter’s class this week to talk about some Japanese Festivals.  It may be helpful to other people who are also covering this topic for me to outline what I’m covering with links to more material. 1) Hina Matsuri – Doll Festival – March 3rd – people pray for their daughters’ future...

A few months ago I wrote about the Japanese holiday Tanabata, the Star Festival that takes place in July. The story behind the festival is now in an online book at Project Gutenberg.  Here you can read more about the festival and the story of the stars… The Meeting of the Star-Lovers One of the greatest days...

One wonderful festival that takes place in Japan in July is the Star Festival, also known as Tanabata. Tanabata means “evening of the seventh”… the Star Festival takes place at night on July 7th every year. Tanabata is originally based on a Chinese legend. Tanabata celebrates the meeting of a husband and wife. ...