The Japanese festival Tanabata is based on the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, literal star-crossed lovers who are separated across the Milky Way and can only see each other on the seventh day of the seventh month each year. It is celebrated at different times in July and August in different cities of Japan. The biggest festival, in Sendai, was cancelled this year, but while gatherings didn't happen, confectioners in Japan made seasonal treats anyway.
近江屋の上生菓子【天の川】
— 菓舗 近江屋 (@oumiya_toyota) June 30, 2020
錦玉制
レモン果汁入り
天の川を手の平に表現するイメージで作りました^o^
星雲を表すために色々と工夫しております！
まずは目で小さな天の川を堪能して
最後は口の中でほんのりレモン味の織姫、彦星の恋愛模様をご堪能下さい。#天の川 #和菓子 #近江屋 pic.twitter.com/HewLdp22R7
The sweet shop Ōmiya in Toyota produced Tanabata-themed wagashi representing the Milky Way itself!
Done in kingyoku style and flavored with lemon juice, we created a rendition of the Milky Way that can fit into the cusp of your palm! We used multiple colors to imitate the heavenly clouds. First, be sure to enjoy the gorgeous colors with your eyes, and then lastly, enjoy the subtle taste of lemon representing Orihime and Hikoboshi’s bittersweet love with your mouth.”
The transparent sweets are made of agar colored to resemble the heavens, with flecks of gold for the stars. We don't know whether the flecks are actual edible gold, but they sure look nice! Read more about Tanabata and see more artistic treats made for the festival at SoraNews24. -via Everlasting Blort