Unless you’re just now tuning in, you probably already know that the clock’s almost run out on my time in Japan. It’s been two and a half weeks since I said, “Sayonara,” to my students, and a week later I checked out of the school. Since then I’ve been marking time...ostensibly packing and cleaning, but in actual fact I'm working on finishing this post the night before take-off, during a break from my cleaning and final packing.
I wish I could say it was because I’d been living my best life with everything Japan has to offer before I go, but the truth is, I’ve been moping (among other things). I did, however, manage to experience one last festival, Tanabata.
Tanabata is a festival based on the story of two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to Wikipedia, Orihime’s daddy, the Sky King, set her up with a cow boy, Hikoboshi, because she was too busy weaving to go find herself a man. They hit it off but - as you do when you have a new love interest - they immediately stopped being useful in any way, shape, or form, which was a problem for both the cows and the Sky King, who apparently had a side hustle selling the cloth Orihime wove. So he separated the newlyweds by sending them to opposite sides of the Milky Way.
Of course, this broke Orihime’s heart, and after crying for a really long time the Sky King took pity on her and allowed them a conjugal visit once a year - on the seventh day of the seventh month. Which to me seems hardly better than not seeing each other at all, but what can I say? I’m a cynic.
So how do you celebrate Tanabata? You write a wish on a slip of paper and tie it to a bamboo branch. Yeah. That’s pretty much it. Like Setsubun, you don’t have to go anywhere to celebrate...but it’s more fun that way.
I’ve been seeing bamboo branches and big streamers around town over the last few weeks, but I decided that - since I was going to be hanging around til then, I wanted to go to Shitamachi for their street festival. I mean, c’mon. Last weekend in Japan, you know?
Shitamachi goes by another name, though...Kappabashi, and this was another reason I wanted to go there. Kappa are a kind of turtle-ish youkai, and one of the creatures in my final nihonga painting. Sensei saw me drawing one not too long ago, and - ever the critic! - told me that it was too cute, that kappa are supposed to have big bellies and be scary. To that, my rebuttal is that there were plenty of kawaii kappas decorating the buildings and on the streets of Shitamachi.
There’s even a small kappa temple, Sougen-ji just off the shopping street. I’d read about it (on Atlas Obscura, I believe) before my first trip to Tokyo, but I’ve never had a reason to visit Kappabashi til now. Apparently Shitamachi came by its unusual name because once upon a time, it was overrun with the critters. The locals built the temple to appease the kappas, and even now you’ll see cucumbers - a kappa’s favorite food - offered at the temple.
Not that I can verify that with my eyewitness account, though. The gates to the temple were closed by the time I made it there. I’d originally thought I’d go after my concert, on the actual seventh day, but Sensei said it always rains on Tanabata, and apparently that’s part of the story, too. To allow the (literally) star-crossed lovers to meet each other, a flock of magpies creates a bridge across the Milky Way...unless it rains, in which case they’re just screwed and they have to wait another year to hook up. I took Sensei’s word for it on account of the rain, and made my way into Tokyo after rehearsal, although I got there a little later than I would have liked.
After writing down my wish, I started making my way down the street. Kappabashi runs basically all the way from Asakusa to Ueno, and along the way I stopped for treats - kakigori and yakitori, which had a pretty long line, which I was enticed into joining by force of the smell, which was divine. As I was waiting, they roped off the street and an awa odori dance troupe came dancing past right in front of me. As far as last festivals go, it didn't suck.
Tanabata is a festival based on the story of two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to Wikipedia, Orihime’s daddy, the Sky King, set her up with a cow boy, Hikoboshi, because she was too busy weaving to go find herself a man. They hit it off but - as you do when you have a new love interest - they immediately stopped being useful in any way, shape, or form, which was a problem for both the cows and the Sky King, who apparently had a side hustle selling the cloth Orihime wove. So he separated the newlyweds by sending them to opposite sides of the Milky Way.
Of course, this broke Orihime’s heart, and after crying for a really long time the Sky King took pity on her and allowed them a conjugal visit once a year - on the seventh day of the seventh month. Which to me seems hardly better than not seeing each other at all, but what can I say? I’m a cynic.
So how do you celebrate Tanabata? You write a wish on a slip of paper and tie it to a bamboo branch. Yeah. That’s pretty much it. Like Setsubun, you don’t have to go anywhere to celebrate...but it’s more fun that way.
Shitamachi goes by another name, though...Kappabashi, and this was another reason I wanted to go there. Kappa are a kind of turtle-ish youkai, and one of the creatures in my final nihonga painting. Sensei saw me drawing one not too long ago, and - ever the critic! - told me that it was too cute, that kappa are supposed to have big bellies and be scary. To that, my rebuttal is that there were plenty of kawaii kappas decorating the buildings and on the streets of Shitamachi.
There’s even a small kappa temple, Sougen-ji just off the shopping street. I’d read about it (on Atlas Obscura, I believe) before my first trip to Tokyo, but I’ve never had a reason to visit Kappabashi til now. Apparently Shitamachi came by its unusual name because once upon a time, it was overrun with the critters. The locals built the temple to appease the kappas, and even now you’ll see cucumbers - a kappa’s favorite food - offered at the temple.
Not that I can verify that with my eyewitness account, though. The gates to the temple were closed by the time I made it there. I’d originally thought I’d go after my concert, on the actual seventh day, but Sensei said it always rains on Tanabata, and apparently that’s part of the story, too. To allow the (literally) star-crossed lovers to meet each other, a flock of magpies creates a bridge across the Milky Way...unless it rains, in which case they’re just screwed and they have to wait another year to hook up. I took Sensei’s word for it on account of the rain, and made my way into Tokyo after rehearsal, although I got there a little later than I would have liked.
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