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The Tanabata Festival is a Japanese star-gazing festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival (the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), celebrating the meeting of the two deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (representing the constellations Vega and Altair). Every year on July 7th in Japan, people celebrate the star festival, also known as Tanabata Day.
The Tanabata Festival originates from the legend of Tanabata-tsume (Orihime), a girl who wove the Milky Way, and of a love story separated from her by a cowherd named Hikoboshi. Only on July 7th, when the sky is clear, can the two stars at opposite ends of the Milky Way reunite. If it rains, it means the river in the sky has risen too high, and the birds cannot build a bridge for the boy and girl to meet.
