2007 Tanabata Festival Photos

Asia Pacific Cultural Center partnered with the Tacoma Art Museum in July 2007 on a Tanabata Festival to celebrate the opening of their Japanese woodblock print exhibit.

According to ledgend, Tanabata festival originated from The Festival to Plead for Skills.  The festival spread to the general public by the early Edo period, became mixed with various Obon traditions, and developed into the modern Tanabata festival. In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper. At this time, the custom was to use dew left on Taro leaves to create the ink used to write wishes.