Tanabata or the Star Festival

Japan has many exciting festivals, which are excellent places to try some local delicacies. The most recent festival was Tanabata, or the Star Festival.

Tanabata is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The story behind the festival seems to vary, but the one I was told involved two stars who fell in love, but are only able to meet on the day of Tanabata.

To celebrate this festival, paper decorations are hung in the streets and people write their wishes on wishing trees. A lot of these are made and written by children, and half the fun of Tanabata is reading the hopes and dreams of the local kids.

For Tanabata I journeyed to Sendai, a city which is famous for its Tanabata decorations. I was overwhelmed by the intricacy of many of the designs. Most of the decorations are covered in hundreds of tiny origami, and it must take their makers hours to perfect their designs.

After a couple of hours of strolling through the city and looking at the decorations, it was time for food! There were a lot of delicious looking street stalls, selling such staples as yakisoba (noodles), takoyaki (octopus balls) and yakitori (skewered chicken). However, as I was in Sendai, I decided to try the local delicacy of gyutan, or beef tongue. Mine was cooked in miso and served with rice. It was absolutely delicious, especially as it can be a little tricky to find beef in Japan.

However, the weather was too hot and the call of the street stalls was too strong, so just before the fireworks that evening, I got myself a peach snow cone. This simplest of desserts was the perfect way to round off the evening, watching the fireworks explode across the sky and celebrating the meeting of two amorous stars.

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