Japan's National Festivals (from July to December)

Japan's National Festivals (from January to May)

The Star Festival (Tanabata) [July 7]

It came from a Chinese folk legend and was named after a weaving maiden from a Japanese legend making clothes for the gods. People often write wishes and romantic aspirations on long, narrow strips of colored paper and hang them on bamboo branches along with mini-ornaments.

Bon Festival (Urabon) [August 13-15]

A Buddhist observance honoring ancestor spirits' return. A priest is usually asked to come and read a sutra (tanagyo). Buddhists clean their grave sites, prepare a path from them to the house and provide straw horses or oxen for spirits' transportation. A welcoming fire (mukaebi) built on the 13th and a send-off fire (okuribi) on the 16th light the path.

"7-5-3" Festival (Shichigosan) [November 15]

5-year-old boys and 3- or 7-year-old girls in traditional clothing are taken to a local shrine to pray for their safe and healthy future. Kids of certain ages were believed to be especially prone to bad luck and hence in need of divine protection. After visiting the shrine many buy chitose-ame ("thousand-year candy") sold nearby.

New Year (Toshi no Se) and Year-End Fair Preparations (Toshi no Ichi) [late December]

Preparations to greet toshigami (a deity of the incoming year) began on December, 13 with house cleaning. Now the date is usually nearer the month' s end. Houses are then decorated with a sacred rope of straw (shimenawa) hung over the front door to protect against evil spirits and sometimes with kadomatsu (an arrangement of tree sprigs) by the entrance. A special altar, toshidana ("year shelf"), is piled high with kagamimochi (flat, round rice cakes), sake, persimmons and other foods. Shrines or local neighborhoods hold fairs on New Year's eve selling decorations and various goods.

Omisoka [December 31]

People do the general house cleaning (Osoji) to greet New Year and avoid impure influences. Many visit Buddhist temples to hear the bells rung 108 times at midnight (joya no kane) due to a belief that humans are plagued by 108 earthly desires or passions (bonno). It's also a custom to eat yakisoba to make family fortunes extend like long noodles.