Participants participate in the kazariworkshop, constructing various ornaments for their pieces
By MAI OMOTO, Kizuna NCI intern
The Los Angeles Tanabata Festival will host their 16th annual event on Aug 10 – 18 at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM).
The festival will feature the kazaricompetition, where individuals and organizations can submit their own creations. The theme of the 2024 contest is “Peace.” The kazariwill be on display at the Aratani Central Hall in JANM.
In order to participate in the kazaricompetition, individuals must register by Saturday, Aug. 3. The contest includes three categories: Category A for individuals or families, Category B for schools, churches, temples, and nonprofit organizations, and Category C for the kenjinkai, the Japanese Prefectural Associations of Southern California.
Each category will have first-, second-, and third-place winners, with prizes of $100, $50, and $30, respectively. Entries will be judged on creativity and quality of construction, and must adhere to specified height, width, and weight restrictions.
In preparation for the contest, the Los Angeles Tanabata Festival offered a series of free workshops, open to the public, to teach participants how to make a kazariand provided a space to buy materials. The workshops are held at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, with the final workshop scheduled for Monday, Aug. 5, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Tanabata (七夕), or the Star Festival (星祭), is a Japanese festival based on the Chinese legend of Qixi. The legend tells the story of two lovers: Princess Orihime, a seamstress, and Hikoboshi, a cow herder.
Orihime wove clothes by the heavenly river, represented by the Milky Way, but feared she would never find love because of her hard work. Her father, the God of the Heavens, arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi, and they fell in love and married.
However, they soon neglected their duties, angering Orihime’s father. He forbade the two lovers from meeting each other, separating them on opposite sides of the Milky Way. He allowed them to reunite once a year on July 7, when magpies form a bridge to allow Orihime to cross the Milky Way to meet her lover.
If it rains, the magpies do not come, preventing the lovers from meeting. Thus, each year, people pray for good weather on Tanabata so that the lovers may be reunited.
The festival originated in the 700s in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, in the Tohoku region. The largest Tanabata celebration is held in Sendai, featuring nanatsu kazari (七つ飾り), or seven decorations, each symbolizing something different.
One decoration, tanzaku (短冊), involves writing wishes and messages of thanks on thin strips of paper and hanging them on bamboo. Another decoration, fukinagashi (吹き流し), features long streamers representing the threads Orihime uses to weave clothes.
During this festival, people express their joy and gratitude for being able to spend the year safely and in good health and thank the gods who have watched over them.
The kazaridisplays at the Los Angeles Tanabata Festival are free to the public and will be on view until the end of the festival. The celebration will coincide with the Nisei Week Japanese Festival, during which various Japanese cultural events, activities, and exhibits will take place.
To learn more about the kazaricompetition, click here.
To learn more about the Los Angeles Tanabata Festival, click here.
Click on this link to learn more about the kazariconstruction process: Tanabata Video
To learn more about Nisei Week, click here.
Photos provided by LA TANABATA FESTIVAL 
This publication was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.