Tanabata Week- Day 1! Today is Tanabata!

Tanabata or Star Festival, has been celebrated for hundreds of years in Japan on 7/7, the one day a year that the two lovers in the famous Tanabata myth can cross the Milky Way to meet.

Today The Japanese Friendship Garden invites you to watch our first video in our Tanabata week series with a Kamishibai. A Kamishibai is a miniature stage with panels for street storytelling that was popular in 1930s Japan. Experience this traditional form of storytelling and get caught up in the fairytale of Tanabata!

Tanabata Week- Day 2! Ready to get this song stuck in your head?

Tanabata or Star Festival, has been celebrated for hundreds of years in Japan on 7/7, the one day a year that the two lovers in the famous Tanabata myth can cross the Milky Way to meet.

Today The Japanese Friendship Garden invites you to watch our second video in our Tanabata week series with the traditional Tanabata song.

Song Lyrics & Translation below:

ささのは　さらさら
のきばに　ゆれる
お星さま　きらきら
きんぎん　すなご
ごしきの　たんざく
わたしが　かいた
お星さま　きらきら
空から　　見てる


Sasa no ha sara-sara
Nokiba ni yureru
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Kingin sunago

Goshiki no tanzaku
watashi ga kaita
Ohoshi-sama kirakira
sora kara miteru

The bamboo leaves rustle,
And sway under the eaves.
The stars twinkle
Like gold and silver grains of sand.
The five-color paper strips
I have written them.
The stars twinkle,
Watching from above.

Tanabata Week- Day 3! Make your own wishing paper with us!

Tanabata or Star Festival, has been celebrated for hundreds of years in Japan on 7/7, the one day a year that the two lovers in the famous Tanabata myth can cross the Milky Way to meet.

Today The Japanese Friendship Garden invites you to watch our third video in our Tanabata week series where you can learn to make and hang your own wishes using tanzaku to celebrate the holiday. Tanzaku are colored strips of paper for writing poems or wishes which are hung on bamboo during Tanabata. Come to the Garden on Saturday, 7.11 in order to try it for yourself.