july 7th is a holiday in japan called tanabata. i don't know much about it, other than it's a star holiday; a legend of when two lovers meet. i think the festival is much bigger in mainland japan than in okinawa. i remember in okinawa that obon was a big deal, and that is a holiday that also occurs during the summer. for tanabata, you write down your wish on a white paper and hang it on a tree or something like that. you can do this anyway at temples in japan, i think you also leave a donation, or you pay for the special paper. i remember once doing this but i don't think it was during tanabata.

i used to like the japanese band by-sexual and especially the drummer, nao. i thought he was so cool with his blue hair, nose ring, and tons of earrings. his look was a big influence on me. in high school, i dyed my hair blue and pierced my nose by myself (i was guided by his story of how he pierced his nose himself). later as a mixed influence of nao and miki from lush, i pierced my ear heavily. i will always remember tanabata because that is nao's birthday. coincidentally, nao was/is friends with hisashi from buck-tick. over 10 years ago, i read the story about how nao didn't know how to use the computer he bought, so hisashi borrowed it to help figure it out, only he never returned it! i still have some by-sexual cds that i think i will keep, but i would sell the videos and book i have on them, in case anyone is interested. ^_^