Celebrating the Tanabata (七夕) Star Festival in Amagasaki

I earlier wrote about taking Japanese lessons in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture like in my post titled “Singing in a Festival Concert in Japan”. I still take Japanese lessons in Amagasaki organized by Amagasaki City International Organization which belongs to Hyogo Nihongo Volunteers’ Network. Last Wednesday, we celebrated the Japanese star festival Tanabata which is every year on July 7. First, we told everybody our wish or wishes which we’d written down on a small piece of paper known as tanzaku (短冊). My wife is pregnant and our second child is expected to be born next January. I had one wish and it was for our child to be born healthy. (^.^) After telling the others our wish or wishes, we hung the tanzaku on bamboo (Wish Tree) which had been brought to the classroom for the occasion and decorated. Next, we sang a Tanabata song together, accompanied by three teachers playing the ocarina and one the classical guitar. After singing the song, the guitar and ocarina performers played something together which was very nice. Next, we watched a teacher perform kamishibai which was interesting. This was followed by a fun word memory game song and finally, chatting with some other attendees in Japanese while having a snack and something to drink. I met some people for the first time and told them that I was an English teacher and teaching English in Tsukaguchi, Amagasaki at Smith’s School of English. I had a great time and thank the teachers for holding the event for us Japanese students in Amagasaki. (^.^)

Derek

Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi (スミス英会話 塚口校)