How Tanabata Can I Be?

Two lovers, kept apart by the river of the Milky Way Galaxy, are finally able to meet on this day (unless you are in Tohoku where they celebrate Tanabata in August). And so on this day, we put on our yukata and celebrated the festival of Tanabata! Everyone got to choose a yukata and an obi (waist belt) to match. We then ate lunch and started the festivities. We listened to the Tanabata song to get into the spirit, and then were set free to enjoy the various rooms. There was a karaoke room, a history room, a games room with fortune telling and prizes, and a crafts room with origami. We also participated in an important Tanabata tradition: writing our wishes for this year on a piece of paper called a tanzaku and hanging them on the branches of a bamboo tree. 

Afterwards we had dinner and tried VERY hard not to spill anything on our yukata. The secret evening activity turned out to be a taiko (drum) performance from River City Taiko. They performed many powerful songs, then let us have a turn at playing the drums (it takes a lot of strength). Of course we couldn’t leave without putting our Bon Odori dance skills to good use! We danced to two songs with the taiko playing in the middle of the circle. We hope all your Tanabata wishes come true!