Make a wish
Join us for the annual Japanese star festival! Tanabata 七夕 at the garden is a family-friendly event that we celebrate with magnificent colors, craft making, and a tradition of writing wishes. This year, we are going to celebrate for 3 days.
The origin of Tanabata comes from the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi, star crossed lovers separated by the Milky Way. Each year on the evening of July 7th, Orihime and Hikoboshi are allowed to reunite for one night only. In Japan, Tanabata is celebrated by decorating bamboo branches with origami ornaments and tanzaku, poems or wishes written on small strips of paper.
Or garden visitors will have the opportunity to write wishes and tie them to bamboo sticks in the garden.
Admission to the garden will be FREE all day for everyone on Thursday 7/7 for Free First Thursday, and for youth 12 and under from 10am-2pm on Saturday 7/9. Final entry to the garden is 45 minutes before closing.
EVENT SCHEDULE:
(All event schedule and activities are subject to change)
Visitors hanging their wishes on bamboo
THURSDAY 7/6
3:00pm - 6:30 pm Tanzaku Wishing Station
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Opening reception and lecture by Taka Ishii from Awonoyoh
*Last entry to the Garden is 45 minutes before closing at 6:15pm.
Family hanging their wishes on bamboo (Photo: Aurora Santiago)
FRIDAY 7/7
3:00 pm - 6:30 pm Tanzaku Wishing Station
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Minowashi Paper Art and Crafts by Mariko Burnham
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Shakuhachi Play by Araki Kodo VI
Minowashi Art and Crafts with Mariko Burnham
Mariko Burnham resides in Sammamish and has dedicated herself to the educational field for over 23 years. As a passionate tea practitioner from the Urasenke Tankokai, Mariko comes to the tea demonstrations. Additionally, she also teaches Origami at the Sammamish library.
Mark your calendars for July 7th, you will have a special chance to write your wish on Mino washi papers and embellish it with origami creation.
Mino washi is made of Kozo grass - mulberry tree - in Mino city, Gifu prefecture. Its production methods were designated as UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage in 2014.
Minowasi origami sample(top) and Mariko Burnham (bottom)
ARAKI KODO VI
For six generations, the Araki family has carried the Kodō name and its perspective on the tradition of Kinko-Ryūshakuhachi. Named for his great-great grandfather, Hanzaburō—or Hanz as he’s commonly called—made his professional debut in 1988 in Shimonoseki, Japan, where he was given the name Baikyoku by his father, Kodō Araki V. He attained the name Kodō at his father’s retirement ceremony in Tokyo in 2009.
Hanz performed and taught in Japan until 1992, when he returned to the United States and shifted his focus almost entirely to performing. Notable appearances include at the Newport Folk Festival, the Vancouver Folk Festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, and the Gates Estate. He was a featured soloist for the Seattle Symphony “Celebrate Asia” concert in 2013.
More Information at arakikodo.com
Araki Kodo VI
SATURDAY 7/8
10:00am - 6:30 pm Tanzaku Wishing Station
11:00 am - 11:45 am Puppet Show by Thistle Theatre
12:15 pm - 1:00 pm Taiko Drumming by Dekoboko Taiko
Thistle Theatre
Join us for the Bunraku theater performance of “Momotaro (the Peach Boy), a famous Japanese folktale by Thistle Theatre. A story about a boy goes to a journey to save his hometown.
The performance will begin at 11 am, Saturday July 8th. Stay after the show and meet the puppeteers and the puppets! www.thistletheatre.org
Dekoboko Taiko
Dekoboko Taiko is a Seattle-based taiko (Japanese drumming) group started by alumni from Taiko Kai at the University of Washington. Since 2017, the group has grown in membership and original songs. They will perform two different sets at 12:15 p.m. and 12:45 p.m.
Thistle Theater: Momotaro
Photo by Dekoboko Taiko
Admission to the garden will be FREE all day for everyone on Thursday 7/6 for Free First Thursday, and for youth 12 and under from 10am-2pm on Saturday 7/9. Final entry to the garden is 45 minutes before closing.