Star Festival for Jess?

**kitandkat** · June 6th, 2006, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by EleanorofAquitane:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Sakurako:
Did you know that many Japanese girls celebrate a romantic, fairy tale festival on July 7th?

Nope, didn't know that! Thanks for the info, Cherry. I can see this being a fun project for DD (and me).<hr /></blockquote>Didn't you say you homeschool your daughter? I don't know how old your daughter is, but my sister is in first grade and they studied Japan. At open house all the parents/siblings had to write their wishes down and hang them up on a dowel (except I think it was a coatrack). You could make this part of a social studies lesson or something with the dolls if you wanted.

mori · June 6th, 2006, 04:15 PM

What a neat story! I really enjoy different cultures legends and folktales. Thanks for posting!

**AG DRESS DESIGNER** · June 6th, 2006, 06:19 PM

I will be in Calif for the month of July, or my 4 Asian dolls would participate. I have created a Japanese garden for them in part of our yard. I hope to feature them in an album soon.

**cowgirlsue** · June 6th, 2006, 06:34 PM

[quote]Originally posted by Kit, Kat, and Friends:

Didn't you say you homeschool your daughter? I don't know how old your daughter is....

No, we don't homeschool, and she'll be 7 next month and is finishing 1st grade. But shamelss boast...she's extremely bright and precocious, e.g. reading at a 5th grade level. So I am always on the look-out for enrichment projects to keep her busy.

**Sakurako** · June 6th, 2006, 07:12 PM

If your DD enjoys reading, I bet she would like writing poems, too. A haiku is a fun form to use. It's supposed to be about nature. In Japanese the format is three lines: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. However for a child I would suggest counting words instead of syllables and let her just write about things that she observes outside as the seasons change, or her favorite things about each season. A 17 word poem would fit nicely on a strip of paper and then you could save them afterwards and embarrass her to tears when she's an English Lit major in college! LOL -- what my mother did to me...

Lindy, unless I'm counting wrong, are you letting that second Jess stay out of the closet? Does she have a name yet?

**kitandkat** · June 6th, 2006, 08:51 PM

[quote]Originally posted by EleanorofAquitane:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Kit, Kat, and Friends:

Didn't you say you homeschool your daughter? I don't know how old your daughter is....

No, we don't homeschool, and she'll be 7 next month and is finishing 1st grade. But shamelss boast...she's extremely bright and precocious, e.g. reading at a 5th grade level. So I am always on the look-out for enrichment projects to keep her busy.<hr /></blockquote>Must have been a different Kit-Kat host then... but anyways my sister is the same way. She is really into history (Nellie's middle name is Helen after hellen Keller)

I'll only be out until the 14th so I think I might just add it on to our midsummer fair. Then they could burn the wishes at the end, but I'm not sure if we're having a real fire or not since they ARE dolls and everything. We'll probably use the pretend campfire

[img]graemlins/bowl.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/bowl.gif[/img]

**cowgirlsue** · June 6th, 2006, 09:03 PM

Originally posted by Sakurako:
If your DD enjoys reading, I bet she would like writing poems, too. A haiku is a fun form to use. It's supposed to be about nature.

We haven't done haiku yet, but she writes sinquans. Those are fun, too. We'll definitely do haiku for the festival...she can count syllables and I'll bet will really get into it.

Polly Marie · June 6th, 2006, 10:35 PM

Thanks, Cherry. I enjoyed reading of the festival. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Polly Marie

**Sakurako** · June 7th, 2006, 03:14 AM

Did you know that many Japanese girls celebrate a romantic, fairy tale festival on July 7th? Since 2006 is the year for Jess, who is at least half Japanese, I thought this might be a fun thing for us to share. It could be quite easy to make on a doll scale, using origami paper cut into long strips and hung from the wooden dowels you can find in craft stores. Just write wishes or short poems (haiku?) on strips of colored paper and tie them to the wooden pole with thread. You could also use Kit's paper lanterns as decorations or make origami cranes to fly from poles, too. Rumer Godden described an English school girl's interpretation of this idea in her story, "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower".

Here is the info about this festival that I found on a website:

"Star Festival (Hoshi-Matsuri) or Tanabata (Weaving-loom) Matsuri

This is a festival in which children and young women find much enjoyment. Fairylike in its fantasy is its legend: That on the eve of July 7 Shokujo, or Weaver Princess Star, is supposed to meet Kengyu, or Herdboy Star, on the bank of the Amanogawa (River of Heaven), or Milky Way, for their annual tryst. Veda is the Princess Star, Altair, the Herdboy Star. The legend is that the celestial princess, daughter of the celestial king, a most skillful weaver and the embodiment of industry, while engaged in weaving cloth for the king's garments, fell in love with a handsome lad, a cowherder, and as a reward for her diligent industry the king allowed them to marry. But so much in love were they that the princess gradually neglected her weaving and the herder allowed his cows to stray, which so exasperated the king that he finally separated the couple by forcing them to remain on opposite sides of the Milky Way, and permitting them to approach each other only once a year. But there is no bridge over the Milky Way and the princess wept so bitterly at the impossibility of meeting her husband that she roused the sympathy of a Kasasagi (magpie) who assured her that a bridge would be contrived for her. This was done, the magpies with their wings spread forming a bridge on which the princess crossed. But if the eve of July 7 is rainy, the magpies will not form the bridge and the celestial lovers must wait another year before meeting.

Although the modern celebration of Tanabata varies widely, a common feature of this festival is the display of bamboo branches decorated with long narrow strips of colored paper and other small ornaments and talismans. The paper strips are inscribed with poems expressing the wish for fulfillment of romantic aspirations. Young girls firmly believe that when they observe the festival earnestly, they will gain skill in weaving and sewing. The decorated bamboo branch is tied to a pole and placed in front of the house."