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About this episode
This episode explores the story of Tanabata and its themes of longing, separation, and personal aspirations.
Tanabata, or the Star Festival, comes from an old story about two lovers represented by the stars Vega and Altair. Orihime was a weaving princess, and Hikoboshi was a cowherd. They fell in love and became so wrapped up in each other that they stopped doing their work. So Orihime’s father separated them on opposite sides of the Milky Way, only allowing them to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. According to the story, magpies form a bridge across the Milky Way so the two can cross and finally be together again. So underneath all the colorful decorations, Tanabata is really a story about longing, separation, and the hope of being reunited with something you love. The tradition of writing wishes comes from another part of the festival’s history. People write them on colorful strips of paper called tanzaku and hang them from bamboo branches. Originally, these wishes were often about getting better at something. Weaving. Calligraphy. Different skills and crafts. Over time, people started writing down all kinds of wishes. So it’s not really just the Japanese version of making a wish. It’s also about asking yourself: What do I really want? What do I want to get…
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