Come Join With us
as we tour the end of the Tanabata Festival
in Hiratsuka !

After a wonderful dinner prepared by our warm and gracious hostess, Mrs. Kedo, we journeyed out to Kiratsuka to enjoy a spectacular evening of color and lights. Under the expert guidance of our host, Mr. Kedo, we delighted in walking the streets of Kiratsuka on a warm and humid Monday evening to gaze at the festival decorations and people watch to our hearts' content. (By we I am Mikey, Tom and I and Mr. Kedo and his son)

A legend of Tanabata and Kikkoden
"Long long ago, there was a young lady named Orihime (literally means a weaving lady). One day she welcomed a husband called Kengyu (a man who leads a cow). After their marriage, Orihime quit weaving clothes because Orihime enjoyed spending time with Kengyu rather than her job. It made the God so angry that he sent Kengyu away to the Galaxy which is a long way off from where they lived."

This tragic ancient Chinese legend is an origin of the star festival called Kikkoden. People prayed to the couple of the stars, Orihime and Kengyu for the improvement of their skills. Later, the festival was brought to Japan. It is said that Tanabata, which had been an annual festival for royal and samurai families for a long time, originates in Kikkoden. It widely spread to the public during Edo period.

Original style of Tanabata festival
"July 7th is the Tanabata Festival. From the night of the 6th, the Japanese start cutting colored paper into small pieces on which they write poems. Then they decorate them to hang on the small bamboo trees. Also, they light Chinese lanterns on the same day. In the morning of the 7th, they float them on the river.

In documents of the Edo Period, the Sendai Tanabata Festival was mentioned as a simple and frugal folk event. It was also the festival for worshiping the spirit of ancestors and praying the god of the rice field for a year of plenty. It was also an annual event when people worship their ancestors' spirits. People made wishes on every decoration and prayed to god as they floated bamboo leaves on a clear and pure river.

August of 1925 - beginning of Sendai Tanabata

Since the first feudal lord, Date Masamune, encouraged the Tanabata festival to women and children, it spread to samurai families and merchants regardless of their ranks. The festival which was held as an event at the Tohoku Industrial Fair is the original form of the present Sendai Tanabata Festival.

Sendai Tanabata Festival has been held continuously except during wartime. As the first step of the reconstruction from the World War Two, the first Tanabata festival after the war was held in August, 1946 which provided much hope for the citizens of Sendai. Since then, the Tanabata Festival, which attracts many people and becomes gorgeous year by year, has been giving people dreams of plenty and hope that their area would thrive more and more.

Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka - Past & Present

Hiratsuka City has long been known as a site of the Tanabata Festival. This year it observes the 48th anniversary of the event from Friday, July 3 through Tuesday,July 7. Today Tanabata is a very popular summertime event in a number of cities in Japan. Tanabata (Star Festival), in Japan children offer to the stars poems on paper, tied to bamboo branches

The festival in Hiratsuka was started in 1951 when a group of downtown merchants launched a plan to promote summer sales by displaying special bamboo decorations as a token of appreciation to their customers and shoppers. Over time the event has grown in scale and in popularity, and now the festival has been established as one of the city's key annual events.

Over 3,000 colorful bamboo decorations fill out the city's main shopping streets. At night, the decorations were illuminated, which makes the streets of the entire downtown all the more fascinating. The colorful, huge bamboo trees succeed very well in dazzling the festival spectators into a "midsummer night's dream" of Japan.

What Is Hiratsuka Like?

Hiratsuka, with a population of 254,013 and 89,415 households (as of May 1, 1995), is located almost in the center of Kanagawa Prefecture, some 60-k (38 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The city faces the Pacific Ocean, and is blessed with relatively mild temperatures, the average being 15 C (59 F). Hiratsuka literally means a flat elevation of earth. Historically, however, it is defined as an "ancient plain burial mound" originating from the tomb of Masako(a granddaughter of Emperor Kammu) who died here in 857 A.D.

In the Edo period (1603 - 1867), Hiratsuka served as one of the 53 lodging towns, or Samurai and merchant travelers, on the 518 km Tokaido Road from Tokyo to Kyoto. After the Meiji Restoration (1868 when the reigns of the government was restored to the Emperor), the town grew to be an active trade center by taking advantage of the railroad laid out from Tokyo. Hiratsuka, in 1932, became the fourth registered city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 36,000. An air raid in 1945 completely devastated the city, burning down some 7, 000 houses. The city is surrounded by a number of natural, scenic spots

The Pacific Ocean, Sagami Bay

,Sagami and Hanamizu Rivers, on its eastern and western borders, and the Tanzawa mountain range stretching toward the northwest.

Citizens enjoy weekend hiking to Shonan Hilltop Park. It is 180 m high and located on the western edge of the city and commands a full view of Hiratsuka and Sagami Bay.

The natural surroundings of hills and forests (which we could only glimpse as we arrived at dusk) spread out over the area. We understand that a glorious view of Mt. Fuji can be seen in winter. The western part of Hiratsuka, occupying across the Sagami Bay beach of Hiratsuka almost one-third of the entire city.

Hiratsuka is ideal for hiking, jogging, cycling, birdwatching, golfing, you name it. The view of Mt. Fuji from the Nanakuni Pass is a spectacular panorama.. We hope to enjoy more of this in the daylight hours when we can fully appreciate the beauty of the area.

Come join with us now and enjoy the sites of the Tanabata Festival