Star Light, Star Bright...
Earlier this week, Tanabata was celebrated here in Japan. Tanabata is a festival marking the annual meeting of two star-crossed, um, stars, who meet only once a year on opposite sides of the Milky Way. To celebrate their yearly date, people write personal wishes on bright paper and tie it to bamboo trees.
The G8 leaders up at the Hokkaido summit this week even participated in the custom. President George W. Bush wished for a world free from tyranny. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wished that a bright star will shine over the summit and everyone will meet their responsibilities. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wished for the eradication of poverty and an end to terrorism. As for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, he recycled a proverb about learning from past wisdoms and creating new ones. In my humble opinion, Fukuda should have taken this opportunity to wish for sexier hair. But even if he had, these world leaders have certainly placed some hefty demands on those stars.
Back in the real world, I recently passed by a shopping center
which sported the traditional star festival decorations near the entrance.
I found this display far more heartwarming, especially since the majority
of the wishes already hung upon the tree were written by Kindergartners in an
apparent class project.
The kids` wishes fell into two general categories. The first, was aspirations for the future:
"I want to travel the world"
"I want to get even better at swimming"
"I want to become a swimming instructor"
"I want to be rich."
"I want to find lots of fossils"
I want to get skinny. (Maybe the teacher wrote this one, I hope???)
"I want to become cute."
"I want to grow up healthy"
"I want to get good at video games."
"When I grow up, I want to work in a hospital."
The other category is "instant gratification:"
"I want a gold treasure chest."
"I want to eat lots and lots...
...of doughnuts."
"I want lots of birthday presents."
"I want a Chinese bunny."
"I want to be `Milky Rose.`"
Milky Rose, to the best of my knowledge is a children`s cartoon character. It seems a bit of an odd wish, but I think we`ll all agree that this young girl stands a far better chance at morphing into a glittery anime character than George Bush`s got at ending tyranny.
After the Tanabata wishes I saw at my local sento I was a little worried. But yours restored my faith, so to speak!
Posted by: Sarah | July 12, 2008 at 02:37 PM
Hello,
Have been reading for a few months now and found your interview in Japanzine- loved it! That Kazuhide... when will he learn... ;-p
I saw a tanabata wish in my local su-pa- saying 'I want a Kerby' (that pink round game character)...
Posted by: Cutetwirler | July 17, 2008 at 08:47 AM