This Japanese festival is based on a Chinese legend of parted lovers who are identified with two of the brightest stars in the night sky: Vega, representing a weaver-princess, who is permitted by the king to marry the simple cowherd, Altair. On the seventh day of the seventh month, the lovers are able to meet. The festival is observed throughout Japan, with people hanging colorful strips of paper on bamboo branches outside their homes. It is an especially colorful occasion in Sendai, where it occurs a month later, on August 6-8. The whole city is decked out with paper streamers and works of origami. Discuss