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Kyo Shoami school, late Edo, Paper Mulberry leaf [Kaji] motif. Taoism links
the mulberry with the Eastern Paradise, Mount Horai. In Japan, mulberry leaves
were used
to make food receptacles for Shinto offerings. The mulberry was also
associated with the weaver girl of the Tanabata Festival, celebrated July 7,
legend: Two stars, Orihime
the weaver girl [Vega] and Kengyu [Altair] a cowherd boy fell
in love, but were separated by the jealousy of another star. The lovers,
however, are permitted to meet in the
Milky Way once a year on July 7th. Hanging strips of paper made from
mulberry, on which people write their wishes, are hung from tree branches.
In Heian times, ladies of
the court wrote poems on these papers during the festival. Several
prominent Shinto shrines use the mulberry leaf as their emblem, and it was
frequently adopted as a family
crest.