Tanabata at JANM 2010
Licensing |
Tanabata, a Japanese star festival usually celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month, is based on the love story between Orihime and Hikoboshi. Separated by the Milky Way (a river of stars), these two are only capable of meeting once a year.
In celebration, the Japanese community comes together in Little Tokyo to celebrate this Japanese holiday by making hundreds of kazaris which are displayed throughout the front of the National Museum. The Discover Nikkei team has put together a design to be displayed at Little Tokyo's second annual Tanabata Festival on August 14. This album shows the brief process and hard work that goes into making each and every kazari that is displayed during the festival.
Slides in this album |
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Kazari in the MakingKoban sells simple kazari kits that you can put together for your Tanabata decoration. Connecting the two baskets together using screws and glue, this became the foundation for our Tanabata decoration. |
Flower MakingHard at work, folding the tissue paper for the flowers used for our Tanabata design.
Flower Making |
Flower MakingSlowly, tissue paper flowers took over the entire office.
Flowers |
ExperimentingI first had to experiment with the flower sizes and designs for the top part of the kazari. This is my first attempt in making the Discover Nikkei icon. |
White Flower MakingFor the background of the design for the kazari, a bunch of white tissue paper flowers needed to be made! |
Glueing the FlowersOnce making many white tissue paper flowers, the next step is to hot glue them to the baskets. |
White Flower BackgroundAlmost completed the background of white flowers for the Tanabata design. Even though it may not look entirely round, some trimming and additions are made to change this awkward shape. |
Following the RulesOur Tanabata decoration could not be taller than 7 feet, so I laid down, hoping that it was not a foot taller than me!
How tall? |
JA Basketball PlayerAs part of the design, there are a number of different characters as a representative of the diversity that we have in all communities, including ours. |
Business ManMeet the business man.
Business Man |
CoupleMeet the couple.
Couple |
The BirdAnother part of the design was this blue flower bird.
Blue Bird |
Paper DesignCompleted paper design for the Tanabata decoration.
Paper Design |
Cutting into StripsAfter completing the painting of the design, the next step is to cut it into strips so that it will be able to flow in the wind. |
Look at the Kokeshi!If you look close enough, the Kokeshi at the top have little eyes!
Kokeshi |