In Japan, people once had the custom of Tanabata, which has a long history and is for the early cultural exchange between China and Japan. China's Tanabata is integrated with Japanese traditional culture. The custom of Qixi was introduced to Japan in Nara period, but the Japanese quickly localized it. In addition to the traditional "Legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl" in China, the Japanese added the legend of shed machine. "The Legend of Shed Machine" originated from "Ancient Stories", which tells that in ancient times, in order to solve problems for the village, a girl shed machine knitted clothes at the water's edge and sacrificed to the gods, and married for one night. Since the Nara period, the Qixi memorial shed machine and cowherd and weaver girl have coexisted, and the influence of the legend of shed machine can be seen from the Japanese word "たなばた" on Qixi. In addition, Japanese Tanabata is pronounced as "たなばたつめ" (Weaver Girl) from the Japanese word "Sheji つなばた", and
Tanabata date change
After Meiji Restoration, Japan changed Tanabata from lunar calendar to solar calendar on July 7th, but there are still a few areas that continue to use the old Tianbao calendar or calendar (commonly known as "Old Tanabata"), among which the most famous Chinese Valentine's Day in Japan is "Sendai Chinese Valentine's Day".
custom
ancient history
It is said that it is a ceremony in the palace and a festival to pray for "unsuccessful" (skill) progress. Legend has it that this ceremony was held during the reign of Emperor 69 1. The Japanese story of "the girl in the shed" is combined with the legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl in China. In ancient times, this day was designated as the day of offering sacrifices to the gods, and a sumo ceremony with the emperor and a banquet for literati to write poems were held. In Heian period (794- 1 185), the day of offering sacrifices to the gods was changed to the day of offering sacrifices to the stars, and Edo period was designated as one of the five major festivals, where "cold noodles" were eaten to ward off evil spirits.
[Editor] Modern
On this day, a Qixi celebration will be held to bless the beautiful love of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. There is a small custom in Japan. They think that on Qixi, when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet, the crops will be bumper. Because the cowherd brought his cow, which is the mascot of harvest in the eyes of farmers, this day is also called harvest day. Tanabata is a wish day in Japan. Everyone writes their wishes on bookmarks and hangs them on bamboo branches, hoping that their wishes will come true. The breeze blows through the bamboo sticks tied to the bamboo branches, turning and turning, which is very beautiful. Some communities also hold festivals on this day, and it seems that summer will begin on this day.
There are large and small Chinese Valentine's Day in all parts of Japan, which are called the three Chinese Valentine's Day in Japan: Sendai, Hirazuka and Shimamiya. The Tanabata celebration in Hiratsuka and Shibuya was originally intended to shake people's hearts and increase the economic income of various regions, but with the passage of time, the scale became larger and larger, and it merged with the original Sendai to become the three major Japanese Chinese Valentine's Day.
[Editor] Sendai Chinese Valentine's Day
Main projects: Sendai Chinese Valentine's Day.
Other customs
In ancient times, Tanabata was made by the court, and the girls in the court had to learn to knit clothes like shed machines on that day. During the Edo period, Tanabata became a folk custom. Besides girls knitting clothes, there were also decorations and short rolls of wishes. After Meiji, Tanabata was changed to July 7th in the western calendar, and the custom of girls knitting clothes, making ornaments and making short rolls of wishes remained unchanged. In recent years, girls' knitting clothes is no longer popular, and decorations and simple book wishes have become two major ways to celebrate Tanabata. This seems to be a custom developed by Japan alone, and there is no similar practice elsewhere.