In fiction[edit]
The following variation of the story is known in China and Japan: A young farmer named Mikeran discovered on his farm a robe which, unbeknownst to him, belonged to a goddess named Tanabata. Soon after, Tanabata visited Mikeran and asked if he had found it. He lied and told the goddess that he hadn't but would help with her search. Eventually the pair fell in love, were wed and had many children. However, one day Tanabata noticed a piece of cloth which had once belonged to her robe on the roof of Mikeran's hut. His lie discovered, Tanabata agreed to forgive him on the condition that he weave a thousand pairs of straw shoes, but until that time, she would leave him. Mikeran was unable to weave the shoes in his lifetime and thus never met Tanabata again. However, it is said that the pair meet once a year when the stars Altair and Vega intersect.[citation needed]
It is said that Tanabata asked Mikeran to weave one thousand sandals and bury them under the bamboo tree and they'd surely meet again. Mikeran wove the sandals and buried them under the bamboo tree as Tanabata had asked. When the tree grew, Mikeran climbed up to find that he was one step short. In his haste, he had used one sandal fewer than necessary, causing the tree to grow one step short. Mikeran called out to Tanabata and she came and lifted him up. Mikeran's father wasn't pleased so he gave Mikeran the difficult job of watching a melon field for three days and nights without touching a single melon. Mikeran however grew very thirsty watching the melons that he touched one. The melon immediately turned into a flowing river forever separating Mikeran and Tanabata. Tanabata pleaded with her father to let her see Mikeran again. Feeling sorry for his daughter, he allows them to see each other on the 7th day of the 7th month.[8]
Customs[edit]
In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on tanzaku (短冊 tanzaku?), small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations (see also Wish Tree). The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day.[9] This resembles the custom of floating paper ships and candles on rivers during Obon. Many areas in Japan have their own Tanabata customs, which are mostly related to local Obon traditions. There is also a traditional Tanabata song:[10]
ささのは さらさら