Tanabata (Star Festival) · Worksheet 1
Wishes Under the Milky Way
Read the story. 英文を読もう。
1Every year on July 7, Japanese children write wishes on colorful paper strips. Then they hang the wishes on bamboo branches. This is Tanabata, the Star Festival.
2The festival comes from an old Chinese love story. Orihime was a princess who made beautiful cloth. Hikoboshi took care of cows. After they got married, they played all day and stopped working. The king of the sky got angry and put them on two sides of the Milky Way. Now they can meet only once a year, on the night of July 7.
3In the sky, Orihime is the star Vega, and Hikoboshi is the star Altair. But here is a surprising fact. The two stars are about 14.4 light-years apart. Even light needs more than 14 years to travel between them. Together with a third star, Deneb, they make a big shape called the Summer Triangle.
4Long ago in China, women prayed to the stars on this night to become better at sewing. In Japan, children in the Edo period wished for better handwriting. Today, people write all kinds of wishes, like passing a test or winning a game.
5July 7 is often rainy in Japan, so the stars may hide behind clouds. That is why some cities hold their festival in August. In Sendai, more than 2 million people come to see huge paper decorations from August 6 to 8. Rain or shine, it is a night to look up and make a wish.
- wish 願い、願う
- strip 細長い切れ
- bamboo 竹、笹
- branch 枝
- princess 王女、お姫さま
- cloth 布
- the Milky Way 天の川
- light-year 光年
- apart はなれて
- sewing 裁縫
- handwriting 手書きの文字、字
- decoration 飾り