Tanabata Festival

栄松斎長喜筆 『東風俗五節句合』 七夕

Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people of all classes celebrate the Star Festival (Tanabata), one of the five seasonal festivals in Japan. To celebrate, people write wishes on colorful pieces of paper and hang them on bamboo branches. This festival, which has roots tracing back to ancient Chinese history, celebrates the meeting of a princess named Orihime and her lover, a young cow herder named Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, who are allowed to meet once a year on this day. In the print, a couple hangs their wishes together. The girl wears a revealing robe made of bast fibers to cool her in the hot weather. Holding additional wishes on a lacquered tray, the young man looks into her eyes and gently tugs on her obi, heightening their sexual tension.