Thank you, @DreamSweetsLove on Twitter, for opening my eyes unto the Japanese star festival known as Tanabata, which… “celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.” Tanabata is celebrated by the people writing wishes and then hanging them on bamboo.
At the same time reading about Tanabata, I came across this Tumblr post from Park-Paradise which explains how Tokyo Disneyland is celebrating…
Beginning July 1 2012, the Tanabata Star Festival Program will return to the Disneyland Tokyo resort. This traditional festival involves Disney characters traveling down the parade route in rickshaws to offer a Tanabata greeting to park guests. World Bazaar will also be decorated with Mickey Mouse streamers and an area where guests can hang their wish cards.
Beginning July 9 2012,Tokyo Disneyland will celebrate Disney’s Natsu Matsuri, a Japanese summer festival. During this time, the park will hold daily Soryo Kobu dance competitions, in which Disney characters lead eight different dance teams in showing off their moves to different styles of music. Each night, four winning teams will compete in the finals, in a competition event that features more music, spraying water and blazes of fire!
Also on July 9,Tokyo DisneySea will celebrate the grand opening ofToy Story Mania! in the American Waterfront section of the park. The Summer Oasis Splash water program also begins that day, with Genie magically transforming Mediterranean Harbor into an oasis of fun so Aladdin can enjoy a tropic vacation. Disney characters will join in on the fun when they appear on special water-spraying barges.
Oh wow. I really do need to go to Toyko. ASAP.