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 

Kazari in the Making

Koban 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.

Kazari Foundation
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Flower Making

Hard at work, folding the tissue paper for the flowers used for our Tanabata design.

Flower Making
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Experimenting

I 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.

Discover Nikkei logo
提供: gkkyamaguchi

White Flower Making

For the background of the design for the kazari, a bunch of white tissue paper flowers needed to be made!

White Flower Making
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Glueing the Flowers

Once making many white tissue paper flowers, the next step is to hot glue them to the baskets.

Glueing the Flowers
提供: gkkyamaguchi

White Flower Background

Almost 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.

White Flower Background
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Following the Rules

Our 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?
提供: gkkyamaguchi

JA Basketball Player

As 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.

Basketball Player
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Cutting into Strips

After 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.

Cutting into Strips
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Look at the Kokeshi!

If you look close enough, the Kokeshi at the top have little eyes!

Kokeshi
提供: gkkyamaguchi

Album Type

Community Event

タグ

gkkyamaguchi — 更新日 6月 28 2021 1:49 a.m.


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