Tanabata
Tonight is Tanabata, the Japanese star festival, celebrating the once-a-year meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi.
Long long ago, on the west bank of the Milky Way, there lived a beautiful girl Orihime. She was a skilled weaver and worked very hard every day. Tentei, the Emperor of the sky was very happy with her diligence and married her to a very hard working cowboy Hikoboshi from across the Milky Way. Hikoboshi and Orihime fell in love and started to live happily on the east bank. However, they spent all day long having fun together and forgot about their work. This made her father very angry, and he separated the two to opposite sides of the river, so that they could not meet. Orihime was so sad that she cried for days and nights. However, once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month, a flock of magpies forms a bridge across the Milky Way, and the two lovers are able to be with each other on this one night.
ささのはさらさら
のきばにゆれる
おほしさまきらきら
きんぎんすなご