Celebrate Tanabata + Hang Wishes on Lucky Bamboo Trees @Hakone

SARATOGA, CA (July 6, 2018) – Want to give your wishes a little extra boost? Visit Hakone Estate and Gardens July 7-31 and hang your wishes on the lucky bamboo trees.

The wishes, also known as Tanzaku, celebrate Tanabata, a summer Japanese tradition which commemorates the romantic story of two lovers represented by the stars Vega and Altair who are only allowed to meet each other once a year as long as the skies are clear.

“In Japanese culture Tanabata, which is celebrated in July or August, is considered a very powerful time for manifesting wishes,” said Hakone Executive Director Shozo Kagoshima. “Every year we celebrate by providing colorful Tanzaku wish cards to guests and hang them from our bamboo trees, which brings good luck and is a spectacular sight.”

Hakone Estate and Gardens – one of the oldest Japanese gardens in the Western Hemisphere – provides the Tanzaku cards for $2 each, all of which goes towards maintaining the garden’s beloved koi pond and its colorful residents.

In Japan people celebrate Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is July 7 in the modern calendar. Some places in Japan celebrate Tanabata on August 7 in accordance with the older Chinese calendar, which is where the legend originated. The most famous of all the Tanabata festivals takes place in Sendai on August 7.

For more information on Hakone’s fascinating history and other upcoming programs visit www.Hakone.com.