Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King), wove beautiful cloth by the bank of the Amano River (天の川 Milky Way, lit. “heavenly river”). Her father, a tailor, used the cloth to make clothes. He loved the cloth she wove and she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone.

Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter.

However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving.

The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river.

It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.

Every year, on the night of July 7, a bridge magically appears over the Milky Way and the young lovers can meet and feel each other’s touch…but they must retreat to their respective sides by day break…to spend another lonely 364 days of solitude with visual contact only…as their sexual tension slowly escalates until the following 7th day of July…..