Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. Today, NILS students enjoyed Japanese culture in Tanabata festival. They experienced calligraphy, tea ceremony and so on.
Accodring to Chinese legend, a god separated a pair of stars that were lovers. Because the Weaver (Vega) was so lovesick for the Cowherd (Altair) she neglected her weaving, so the god put the Milky Way between them. The only chance they have to see each other is on the night of July 7th. The Star Festival, Tanabata, based on this legend, has been held since the Edo period. People write their wishes on strips of coloerd paper, hang them on the branches of leafy bamboo stems and put them outside at night.



“Besides coming to NILS to learn Japanese language, it is really interesting that we are exposed to the Japanese culture as well. The Tanakata festival that we had today was really an eye opener for me. All of us had to write our wishes on slips of paper and after which we had to hag them on the bamboo treee. Besides that, we have also learnt about calligraphy, origami an tea making. Overall, it wa relly a new and nice experience. Hoep that we can have more of such events in the future.” —Jolene-san, from Singapore.

Since I arrived in Japan, I experienced a lot of culture differences. A lot of them are interesting and shocking, and one of the good exmaples is the star festival we had today. We learned the traditional way of making and drinking green tea “Wa Kei Sei Jaku” meaning “friendly, respect, clear and strong mind.” We also learned the story behind the star festival about two lovers a very long time ago, which led us to learning how to make origami “paper cranes” attaching ones with to it onto a small tree.
We ended the day off with a calligrapy lesson, which was very interesting seeing the ancient characters evolve to the modern characters today. I chose the word “Dream” or “夢（ゆめ）” and we wrote the final choice onto a small white fan to take way as a present from the teachers.
I’ve learned so much more about the Japanese culture today, however, I believe there is much, much more to experience fromthe culture, and I can’t wait.
今日は　とても楽しいです。” —Andreas-san, from Hong Kong.

“Coming to Japan to learn the language and the culture was sort of a challenge for me at the beginning. But due to the support of teachers and hospitality of Japanese people, it’s getting easier day by day. And today’s star festival helped me to explore a lot more Japanese culture and traditions. I learned to make origami and the ocha, the traditional way. Some of our friends tried on the kimono. We had a lot of fun with the calligraphy. It has inspired me to go more deeper into the Japanese traditions. I feel more proud on having chosen NILS for learning Japanese language. They never stop encouraging us and familiarising us with Japan. I wish we get more of such opportunities in the coming days. とてもたのしかった! We even wrote wishes and tried it in the bamboo. Truly amazing!” —Pradip-san, from Nepal.



June 27th News, from NILS Japanese language school.