Munakata Taisha: A Night Under the World Heritage Stars.

During the Tanabata Festival, children hang strips of paper with their wishes on bamboo branches. My son asked, 'Will the Cowherd and Weaver Girl peek at them?' As we strolled along the path late at night, you shone a flashlight towards the treetops and said, 'Look, the spirits are winking through the leaves.' Lying on the grass in the sacred forest, my daughter fell asleep after counting the 83rd shooting star, still clutching a ginkgo leaf she picked up as a 'divine fortune.' In the morning light, when the shrine maiden handed us a charm for good relationships, my child said, 'Our whole family is already bound together!'