七月

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 七月七日は七夕です。▶ —
   July 7 is Tanabata.
2. 七月は花火大会が多い。▶ —
   July is full of fireworks festivals.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Shichigatsu (七月) is July — Tanabata plus the start of summer festival and fireworks season. Cluster: (1) tanabata (July 7, importing the Chinese Cowherd-Weaver (Hikoboshi and Orihime) legend of an annual Milky-Way meeting, naturalized in Japan in the Nara period — writing wishes on tanzaku paper strips tied to sasa-take bamboo branches, with Sendai Tanabata and Hiratsuka Tanabata as the famous large festivals); (2) hanabi-taikai (fireworks shows from July through August, with 1,000+ events nationally — yukata-clad attendees, yatai street food, the hanabi-shi craftsman trade, Sumidagawa Hanabi-Taikai dating to Edo 1733); (3) umi no hi (Marine Day, the third Monday in July, set in 1996, marking the official start of beach season); (4) tsuyu-ake (mid-July rainy-season end, marking the start of summer proper). Kanji 七 cardinal "seven," on-reading shichi or nana — months use shichi. JLPT N5 plus Julys Japanese summer-launch cluster.

Quick check

1. Origin and adoption of tanabata legend?

   • Chinese Cowherd-Weaver legend; imported in the Nara period, tanzaku wishes settled in
   • Native Japanese myth
   • Indian Buddhism
   • Western astrology