The Romance of the Milky Way | Page 7

the holiday ceremonies
were suffered to assume an inexpensive form, in which even the
poorest classes could indulge.
The popular customs relating to the festival differed according to
locality. Those of Izumo--where all classes of society, samurai or
common folk, celebrated the holiday in much the same way--used to be
particularly interesting; and a brief account of them will suggest
something of the happy aspects of life in feudal times. At the Hour of
the Tiger, on the seventh night of the seventh month, everybody was up;
and the work of washing the inkstones and writing-brushes was
performed. Then, in the household garden, dew was collected upon
yam-leaves. This dew was called Amanogawa no suzuki ("drops from
the River of Heaven"); and it was used to make fresh ink for writing the
poems which were to be suspended to bamboos planted in the garden.
It was usual for friends to present each other with new inkstones at the
time of the Tanabata festival; and if there were any new inkstones in
the house, the fresh ink was prepared in these. Each member of the
family then wrote poems. The adults composed verses, according to
their ability, in praise of the Star-deities; and the children either wrote
dictation or tried to improvise. Little folk too young to use the

writing-brush without help had their small hands guided, by parent or
elder sister or elder brother, so as to shape on a tanzaku the character of
some single word or phrase relating to the festival,--such as
"Amanogawa," or "Tanabata," or "Kasasagi no Hashi" (the Bridge of
Magpies). In the garden were planted two freshly-cut bamboos, with
branches and leaves entire,--a male bamboo (otoko-daké) and a female
bamboo (onna-daké). They were set up about six feet apart, and to a
cord extended between them were suspended paper-cuttings of five
colors, and skeins of dyed thread of five colors. The paper-cuttings
represented upper-robes,--kimono. To the leaves and branches of the
bamboos were tied the tanzaku on which poems had been written by
the members of the family. And upon a table, set between the bamboos,
or immediately before them, were placed vessels containing various
offerings to the Star-deities,--fruits, s[=o]men, rice-wine, and
vegetables of different kinds, such as cucumbers and watermelons.
But the most curious Izumo custom relating to the festival was the
Nému-nagashi, or "Sleep-wash-away" ceremony. Before day-break the
young folks used to go to some stream, carrying with them bunches
composed of némuri-leaves and bean-leaves mixed together. On
reaching the stream, they would fling their bunches of leaves into the
current, and sing a little song:--
Nému wa, nagaré yo! Mamé no ha wa, tomaré!
These verses might be rendered in two ways; because the word nému
can be taken in the meaning either of némuri (sleep), or of nemuri-gi or
némunoki, the "sleep-plant" (mimosa),--while the syllables mamé, as
written in kana, can signify either "bean," or "activity," or "strength,"
"vigor," "health," etc. But the ceremony was symbolical, and the
intended meaning of the song was:--
Drowsiness, drift away! Leaves of vigor, remain!
After this, all the young folk would jump into the water, to bathe or
swim, in token of their resolve to shed all laziness for the coming year,
and to maintain a vigorous spirit of endeavor.

* * * * *
Yet it was probably in Yédo (now T[=o]ky[=o]) that the Tanabata
festival assumed its most picturesque aspects. During the two days that
the celebration lasted,--the sixth and seventh of the seventh month,--the
city used to present the appearance of one vast bamboo grove; fresh
bamboos, with poems attached to them, being erected upon the roofs of
the houses. Peasants were in those days able to do a great business in
bamboos, which were brought into town by hundreds of wagonloads
for holiday use. Another feature of the Yédo festival was the children's
procession, in which bamboos, with poems attached to them, were
carried about the city. To each such bamboo there was also fastened a
red plaque on which were painted, in Chinese characters, the names of
the Tanabata stars.
But almost everywhere, under the Tokugawa régime, the Tanabata
festival used to be a merry holiday for the young people of all
classes,--a holiday beginning with lantern displays before sunrise, and
lasting well into the following night. Boys and girls on that day were
dressed in their best, and paid visits of ceremony to friends and
neighbors.
* * * * *
--The moon of the seventh month used to be called Tanabata-tsuki, or
"The Moon of Tanabata." And it was also called Fumi-tsuki, or "The
Literary Moon," because during the seventh month poems were
everywhere composed in praise of the Celestial Lovers.
* * * * *
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