Our Tokyo school has started with preparations for the star festival – Tanabata!

Students write their wishes on special slips of paper, and hang them on the bamboo along with decorations.

Do you know the story of Tanabata?

A beautiful princess called Orihime was an expert weaver who made beautiful clothes for the King. Working so hard to create these amazing cloths, she worried that she would never meet anyone or fall in love. When the King heard about this, he introduced his daughter to a cow herder called Hikoboshi, and it was love at first sight. Orihime was so in love that she started to weave less and less, and Hikoboshi let his cows stray all over the fields. This angered the King so much that he forbade them to see each other again. Orihime sank into a deep depression and was so sad that her father eventually relented and allowed her to see her love only on the 7th day of the 7th month of each year.

Make sure to check out our Facebook page for more photos of Tanabata!

We’re a little late with this blog post, but students made a wish tree for 七夕 (“tanabata”, star festival), on the 7th of July. Some beautiful wishes on this tree!