FREE ESSAY ON ASTRONOMY AND JAPANESE MYTHS

ASTRONOMY AND JAPANESE MYTHS

Throughout history different cultures have let astronomy shape their beliefs and customs.
One such culture that has traditions rich in astronomy is the Japanese culture. Since I
am half Japanese, I thought I would discuss some of the traditions found in Japanese
culture. Further, I will explain how these aincient traditions and beliefs are still
present in modern day society in Japan. I found some really great websites which I will
use to write my essay. The first website focuses primarily on Japanese
festivals/traditions and how astronomy plays a part in Japanese festivals/traditions. The
Astrologers Union of Japan homepage is great, but the whole website is written in
Japanese. Astroarts has a great Japanese astronomy page which offers a cornucopia of
astronomical info....the links are great too! Please bear with me as I am learning new
things too.
I. Orihime, Kengyuu, and Tanabata Orihime, Kengyuu, and Tanabata 
Tanabata is a Japanese festival based on the legend of Orihime and Kengyuu. This story
uses the stars of Vega and Altair for it's main characters. The Japanese refer to Vega as
Orihime Boshii which means weaving princess star. Kengyuu Boshii means puller of cows
star and refers to Altair. The other characters are Orihime Boshii's father the emperor
which is the star centered at the north pole(polaris?), the boatman which refers to the
moon, and Kasasagi which are a group of magpies.
The author of the legend begins by telling his readers that Orihime Boshii(Vega) would
visit the river of heaven(milky way) everyday and weave beautiful fabrics. Her father the
emperor loved these fabrics and grew very fond of them. One day, Orihime Boshii became
very sad because she had spent all her life up until that day weaving fabrics and had not
found the time to fall in love and get married. The emperor loved his daughter and felt
sorry for her...he arranged(where the idea of arranged marriage in Japan comes from?) for
her to marry Kengyuu(Altair), a prince who lived across the river of heaven. As the
marriage of Orihime Boshii and Kengyuu blossomed, Orihime Boshii neglected her weaving
and this upset and worried her father. The emperor finally decided to separate the couple
by means of the river of heaven, however, for one day out of the year(7th day of the 7th
month) the couple would be allowed to be together. On that day a boatman(the moon) would
ferry Orihime Boshii across the river to see her husband Kengyuu...the boatman would only
come to ferry Orihime Boshii across the river of heaven if she had finished her
weaving...id she had not finished her weaving it would rain and the river would be too
flooded to cross by boat. The gods took compassion on Orihime Boshii and allowed for a
group of Kasasagi(magpies) to fly into the milky way and make a magpie bridge for Orihime
Boshii to cross over to the other side and see Kengyuu.
Tanabata, the festival based on this legend is celebrated every year on the 7th day of
the 7th month of the Japanese lunar calendar. During this festival people write wishes to
the gods on strips of paper, tie these strips of paper to freshly cut bamboo, eat
seasonal vegetables, and decorate horse and cow figures made out of straw or water oats.
Over the years water purification ceremonies, a marriage between a weaving lady and a
water god, and other such ceremonies were added to the tanabata festival celebration. 
II. Setsubun Setsubun, Oni Out, Happiness In 
Setsubun is a Japanese lunar new year festival to rid the upcoming year of bad spirits.
In short, beans are thrown all over the house, on people, on business, and whatever else
people want guarded from the destruction of evil spirits. People are then suppossed to
eat the beans. Let's look at how astronomy plays a role in the Setsubun tradition:
1. Setsubun occurs on the day before Risshun(spring).
2. The setsu of Setsubun (literally sectional separation) originally referred to the eve
of any of the 24 divisions of the solar year (see The Lunar Calendar in Japan for an
explanation of these divisions).
3. Lunar Calendar in Japan 
4. Setsubun achieved the status of an imperial event and further took on symbolic and
ritual significance relative to its association with prospects for a returning sun,
associated climatic change, renewal of body and mind, expulsion of evil, symbolic
rebirth, and preparation for the coming planting season. 
5. Setsubun generally always precedes the lunar New Year, and in the ancient ideal was
often actually referred to as New Years' Eve. In 2000, solar and lunar cycles coincided
enough to make the ideal almost real in that February 4th marked Risshun (Spring Begins),
and February 5th was the actual lunar New Year in both China and Japan.
III. Happy New Year New Year in Japan 
[] This is the Jappanese symbol for the term happy new year. It is a combination of the
chatacters for sun and moon. According to the Japanese...Sun+Moon= new dawn and
change...thus happy new year.
1. This character sometimes refers to the planet Venus...Venus is either Kinsei(gold
star) or Myou Jyou(bright dawning star). 
2. Akema*censored*e Omedetou Gozaimasu is the term for happy new year but it literally
means: The year is changing... darkness gives way to light... new life begins...
Congratulations! Why? In ancient lore (under the lunar calendar), the New Year was seen
in relation to change in both the sun and moon as well as the symbolism of their
luminance
3. The Chinese and Japanese calendars are based on a 12 year cycle...this 12 year cycle
is based on positions of Jupiter with its 12 year orbit (and consequent position about
the ecliptic. 
IV. Yowatashi Boshii...Japanese Lore Associated with Orion Japanese Lore Associated with
Orion 
1. Orion is a Yowatashi Boshii star...one of the passing the night stars This phrase was
applied to prominent star groups which would appear in the East at sunset and set with
the dawning sun (Uchida, 1973).
2. The first refers to kabuki drama in which a drum(tsuzumi) with heads on both sides is
beaten with the fingertips...the drum is in an hourglass shape and is tied with
strings...this drum comes from the constellarion orion. The stars Betelgeuse and Gamma
Ori form one end of the drum while the stars Rigel and Kappa Ori form the other. The
three belt stars represent the cord that is used to tie the strings snugly in the middle
3. The Japanese use wooden blocks as part of entertainment and religious ceremonies.
Wooden blocks are said to summon various gods. Japanese have found the drama of this
simple instrument and its sound in Orion as Kanatsuki no Ryowaki Boshi (literally
striking both sides stars; Uchida, 1973).
[] 
This section of the website on orion contains many more legends and things based on the
stars of orion, but for lack of space, I will end it here. Please see the website...I am
learning most of these things for the first time. I was amazed to learn that the Japanese
view orion as many different things whereas in western culture orion is viewed as a
singular thing.
I am running out of room so I will end it here. As you can see Japan has an abundance of
legends and folklore based upon the stars and astronomy. This website that I found is
awesome...it discuses all of the major japanese beliefs, traditions, cultures, and
folklore as it relates to astronomy. In this paper I have tried to summarize some of the
Japanese legends, festivals, traditions,and folklore based on astronomy, and what I found
out is that I will need much more space than this text window offers in order to discuss
this topic. I learned a great deal and hope to study this out further and learn a lot
more 
Bibliography
1. Renshaw, Steve and Ihara, Saori. Astronomy in Japan. 10 October 2000-14 
October 2000. 
Other sites that I found but did not use(not inbibliographical form).
1.http://www.astroarts.co.jp/index.html
2. http://jin.jcic.or.jp/kidsweb/japan/d/q9.html
3. http://www.nao.ac.jp/