7月7日 七夕の今日はアジアゾウ、ズゼと出会って5周年記念日です。ズゼを大切に思っておられる、ズゼの生まれ故郷のラトビア方にも読んでいだきたくて、FaceBookに先に同じ文と写真を投稿しました。(後ほど日本語訳を追記で書きます)
Five years ago today, on the day of Tanabata I first met the Asian elephant, Zuze at Kobe Oji Zoo. A month before that in June I visited Riga City, capital of Latvia for sightseeing. I heard from the guide that there is an elephant from Riga in Kobe. Riga and Kobe are sister cities. The elephant Zuze which was 6 years old was donated form Riga to Kobe in 1996.
July 7, 2017
Then I visited Oji Zoo to meet the elephant from Latvia which is far from Japan.
July 7, 2017
Since I met Zuze on the day of Tanabata, I have benn deeply fascinated by Zuze.
July 3, 2022
Tanabata is based on the legendary meeting of two stars, Altair and Vega, which represent Hikoboshi and Orihime, respectively.
After getting married, they both idled away their time and didn’t work. An angry god split Hikoboshi and Orihime apart on the two banks of the Milky Way. However, the god permitted Hikoboshi and Orihime to reunite once a year on July 7. So Tanabata is held on that day every year, and it is said to be the day when lovers can reunite.
People decorate bamboo trees with colorful pieces of paper to pray for Orihime and Hikoboshi to come together.
July 7, 2022 Kobe Oji Zoo
People also write their wishes on those strips of paper and hang them from bamboo branches, which is said to make their wishes come true.
July 7, 2022 Kobe Oji Zoo
“May the animals of the zoos of the world be happy”, it's written on one of the strips hung on the bamboo branch at Oji Zoo.
July 7, 2022 Kobe Oji Zoo
The other day, on July 3rd, I went to a concert by a Latvian women’s group, “Tautumeitas”.
They sang a Japanese children’s song “Tanabatasama” which is related to Tanabata. Their voices were fantastic, beautiful and touching.
July 3, 2022 Hyogo peforming art center
I am grateful to meet Zuze everyday, but today is Tanabata, the 5th anniversary of our first meeting and Iam more thankful than usual.
July 7, 2022 Kobe Oji Zoo
July 7, 2022 Kobe Oji Zoo
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