What is the Star Festival in Japan?

The "star festival" , also known as Tanabata (七夕), is a special day on the Japanese calendar.

If you are in Japan on this day, you may see many colorful strips of paper hung in different places (shrines, community centers, schools, etc).

These strips of paper are called 短冊 (tanzaku) and on them are written people's wishes.
They are traditionally tied to the branches of bamboo trees.

The origin of the festival is from China and takes place on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year on which day the two stars, Altair and Vega, are able to meet.
The two stars are usually separated by the Milky Way during other days of the year.

There is a romantic legend that is told to mark the festival.
It is of a princess (the star of weavers, Vega) and a cow herder (the star of cow herders, Altair).

The princess is called Orihime in Japanese, and the cow herder is known as Hikoboshi.

They were allowed to fall in love by the God of the Heavens (Princess Orihime's father) but they became so infatuated with each other that they began to be negligent of their daily duties.

So the God decreed that the two star-crossed lovers could meet once a year and this day is Tanabata (七夕) .

If you are in Japan during this festival, why not join in and write your wishes onto some colorful paper and hang it on a bamboo strip?