Tanabata, Japan's version of the Chinese festival Pinyin, or “The Night of Sevens" (because it falls on the 7^th day of the 7^th month), celebrates the love between the stellar shepherd boy, Hikoboshi (Vega), and the Weaver Princess, Orihime (Altair). Although the shepherd boy was of lowly birth, the princess’ father, the Emperor of Heaven, worried that Orihime worked so hard weaving cloth for the gods that she had time to do little else, allowed them to be married. They were so in love, however, that they neglected their work and spent all of their time together.

Without the princess to weave their heavenly cloth, the gods were forced to wear the same thing over and over until they wore out. Without the herder to care for them, the flocks became sick. The emperor became so angry that he forced them to move to opposite banks of the River of Heaven, the Milky Way. They watched each other from afar as they tried to focus on their work, but their depression overcame them and they could do nothing. The king took pity on them, and promised to let them meet once a year if they worked as hard as they could.

At the chance of being together again, they began to work as hard as before. Every year on the 7^th night of the 7^th month, a magical bridge of magpies forms over the heavenly river, and the young lovers are able to meet. It is said that if it rains, the heavenly river overflows, and they must wait for their chance to meet again the following year.

Tsuyu, Japan's rainy season. The hydrangeas and irises that cover the countryside in a blossoming blue bonnet would not be the seasonal splendors they are without it. Written with the Chinese characters for plum (or Japanese Apricot), and rain, Tsuyu evokes the image of plump purple plums, sprinked in summer rain, and the ancient Chinese proverb that foretells its coming: "When the rain falls on the ripe plum, rain will follow for forty days after." (Hmmm...rain and 40 days...where have I heard that before?)

Tsuyu may seem mild in comparison to the Biblical allusion, but it sure does drop alot of juice! Infact, Japan is the 4th wettest country on earth (Indonesia is #1, New Zealand #2, the Phillipines #3), thanks to the plum-wetting-raininess that usually begins in early June and lasts until the middle of July.

But the Japanese owe a lot more to Tsuyu that their pretty purple flowers and tasty plums. Tsuyu is the catalyst behind the cultivation of rice, the sacred foundation of Japanese culture and collective consciousness. (Not to mention their incredible sense of Tsuyu fashion, complete with Prada umbrellas and Gucci golashes).

The cultural saturation of Tsuyu is also reflected in the Japanese language, drenched in poetic and colorful expressions for rain: Oame (great rain or downpour), aoba ame (green-leaf rain), to the jewel-like drops of rain that crown the lush green leaves, and kaiu, a rainfall of a strange, darkened hue, accompanied by whirlwinds that drop strange objects from the sky, such as fish. Tsuyu itself is also known as baiyu or samidare, after the 3rd month of the old Japanese calandar, and is broken down into Tsuyunoiri (Nyubai) and Tsuyuake (Shutsubai), the beginning and the end of Tsuyu.

But the tsuyu season isin`t just wet, it`s hot. It's a deadly cycle of rain, which cools things down a bit, followed by intense heat (about 90 degrees) that causes the freshly fallen rain to fill the air with a humid mist that makes people sweat just sitting around. The first day after a good rain is always bright and sunny, the slate grey skies turned a beautiful baby blue, full of puffy, picturesque clouds piling up along the verdant pine ridge of the mountains. The next day is blurred with a steamy mist that fades the colors of the mountains to a distant shade of forest green as the blue of the sky is slowly covered in thin white clouds, like spilled milk. The　next day brings a welcome rain, a cool breeze and a shroud that veils the mountains completely, as clouds, thrown down to earth like fallen angels, make it hard to know where heaven ends and earth begins.