When the Stars Align

~Blog post #2~

April 12, 2015

By: Brianna Serrano

Exciting festivity and delicious foods are a must when it comes to me. Japan, my friends, is the epitome of fascinating holidays, celebrations, and of course, scrumptious cuisine. Upon diving deeper into the culture, I’ve discovered that Japan does not celebrate any national holidays in regards to religion, unlike the United States, where Christmas and Easter are publicly celebrated (Wikipedia). In fact, about 65% of Japan’s population is atheist, while the remainder practices either Shinto or Buddhism (The Chapmans). Therefore, celebrating religious holidays is not as common. Don’t get me wrong, though; Japan still likes to party. It’s interesting to discover that most of the national holidays celebrated in Japan actually relate to mythical stories, legends, and marks in history. Tanabata, or Star Festival, is a national holiday in Japan, which is celebrated every year between July 7^th and August 7^th. It means “Evening of the Seventh” and is originated from the Chinese Qixi Festival, where a mythical love story comes to stand. It is said to celebrate the reunion between the stars, Vega and Altair. According to legend, Vega and Altair are separated by the Milky Way, and it’s only once a year that they can reunite, which also correlates to how Vega and Altair actually cross each other in the sky “on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar” (Wikipedia). To carry out the celebration, the Japanese write poems and decorate bamboo sticks to send across rivers. Tied onto the bamboo are wishes that sail off, in hopes of coming true. The streets of Japan are decorated, and street food becomes a necessity. Japanese street food is far different from American’s, but the concept of delicious fried dough seems to play its part. A traditional food eaten during Tanabata is called Takoyaki (Japan Centre). It is a round, fried dough ball with octopus inside. Absolutely adorable, right? Typically, it’s served with crumbled tempura, green onion, and pickled gingers; All of the Earth’s most beautiful perks perfectly solidified into one little snack. I don’t know about you, but I know where I’m going for vacation this summer!

A picture simply does not do justice. If you're interested in making it yourself (which I know you are), here you are: http://www.japanesecooking101.com/takoyaki-recipe/ 

Tanabata. Digital image. Japan Centre. Japan Centre, 29 June 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.