08/09/2026
🎋Another season at Zee has come to an end.
Japanese learners, as well as Japanese-speaking customers, were invited to write their wishes in and vertically, just as they traditionally are.
“May my Japanese improve.”
“May my whole family stay healthy.”
“May my dreams come true.”
Each tanzaku strip carried someone’s own hopes and feelings.
Tanabata, often known as the , is rooted in the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, two stars said to meet once a year across the Milky Way.
But another beautiful meaning of Tanabata lies in putting our wishes into words.
Taking something that lives inside us,
turning it into words,
and entrusting those words to the bamboo.
And we believe there is something especially meaningful about doing this in Japanese — a language with ancient roots and a resonance that, feels deeply connected with the Earth and the cosmos.
In Japanese, the word kotoba (言葉), meaning “words,” contains the kanji for leaf (葉).
And so, as the words written on the tanzaku sway together with the bamboo leaves in the wind, it feels as though they carry each person’s thoughts and wishes out into the world.
Perhaps Tanabata is not simply a day to ask for our wishes to come true.
Perhaps it is also a day to give our feelings a voice, put our wishes into words, and let those words resonate within ourselves.
After traditional Tanabata came to an end, we ceremonially burned the tanzaku and sent everyone’s wishes to the sky. 🔥✨
And this year, there was something else to let go of.
This November marks 10 years since we moved here.
So, along with the Tanabata wishes, we also ceremonially burned old documents that had quietly accumulated over the past decade.
Sending our wishes to the sky.
Letting go of the old,
and welcoming a new decade.
May the feelings we put into words continue to move us into the next chapter. 🌿✨
Thank you to everyone who took part in Tanabata at Zee this year. 💚
