Tanabata summer festival / Japanese ancestor worship / Shinto and Yorishiro
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Tanabata is one of the big summer festival in all over Japan.
Although Tanabata is said that common culture in Asia,
Japan's Tanabata is original.
Because it is related to Shinto.
(Nature worship,Shinto is older than any other religions)
Now that most Tanabata festivals in Japan are held on July 7,
but some northern prefectures have it on August 7.
August 7 is true Tanabata.
Sendai prefecture's Tanabata is very famous and beautiful.(Photos)
Sometimes,Tanabata is called Star festival.
Japanese mothers make special star foods especially for kids.(Photos)
In Tanabata legend,Princess Orihime and prince Hikoboshi are able to meet each other only one time a year.
The place for meeting is over the milky way if it is not a rainy day.
Japanese people cerebrate their earnest wish meeting.
The couple represents Izanami and Izanami,Japanese first wife and husband
in the most oldest myth of Japan.
And people make a self wish too.
These colorful papers are Tanzaku.
Personal wishes are written on it and displayed with bamboo leaves.
But the above cultural things are not so much important
because these are superficial and meaningless things.
Tanabata is a preparation for OBON week.
We have very important week for ancestor worship in the middle of August.
The week is called OBON/BON.
Another spiritual world's gate is opened fully only during OBON week
then our ancestors can visit the material world temporarily
and enjoy the material world and watching own descendants.
Usually,poor ancestors can't move.
Cant visit the material world too.
But they can visit here only in OBON.
This spiritual phenomenon of OBON occurs especially in Japan.
Because Japan has sad history with Mu, the lost continent.
So,I recommend you to visit Japan in August.
You may feel interesting atmosphere of spiritual world.
I can feel something mysterious atmosphere especially in humid summer even though I am in US.
In Japan there are some important events for ancestors.
Almost related to the Sun moving.
Spring equinox = Spring Ohigan week in March
↓
Summer solstice in June
↓
Tanabata 8/7 (Just before OBON)
↓
OBON 8/13-8/16
↓
Autumn equinox = Autumn Ohigan week in September
↓
Winter solstice in December
Many Japanese people think that each one is single event.
But the above events are connected as a series of year.
In other words,we have events for dead ancestors all the year.
And the biggest one is OBON.
Also,OBON is known as a unique Buddhism culture in Japan.
It is not true.
Shinto has the concept originally.
Tanabata is written like this in Japanese language → 七夕
七 = seven or July
夕 = evening
(Death/another world is known as a night/HIDDEN world in Japan)
About the sound of Tana-bata.
Sound of Bata/Hata has strong connection with Ya-hata jinjya shrine in Kyoto.
Around Ya-hata jinjya shrine,Moses and Hebrews taught Japanese people developed weaver skill.
So,originally,Tanabata was festival for further development of fabric produce in Japan.
So,wishing private things are not good in Tanabata.
Shinto is not like that.
In Shinto,every material,thing is container.
We can put anything we want into the container.
For example,if you cherish your simple ordinary pen for a long time,it will has a special power of happiness as a result.
Because materials always absorb the air that human give.
Even your body is a great container.
You can put self sacred divinity instead of evil thinking.
Tanabata ornaments are kind of Yorishiro for dead ancestors.
We have to write gratitude words for ancestors on paper instead of self wishing words.
Photos by photolibrary