2027 Tanabata

Tanabata on July 7 is Japan's Star Festival, based on the legend of Orihime the weaver and Hikoboshi the cowherd — the stars Vega and Altair — lovers separated by the Milky Way who are allowed to meet only once a year on this night. The story came from the Chinese Qixi festival and was adopted at the imperial court in the Nara period before spreading to the public in the Edo era. People write wishes on strips of coloured paper called tanzaku and hang them on bamboo branches along with paper streamers, and shopping streets, schools and stations put up decorated bamboo. The Sendai Tanabata Festival, held August 6–8 under the older calendar, is the largest, with enormous streamers filling the city's arcades, while Hiratsuka near Tokyo celebrates in early July. It is not a public holiday, and rainy-season clouds often hide the stars. This countdown ticks to midnight Tokyo time on July 7.