Tanabata emojis

Write a wish on a thin strip of paper, tie it to a bamboo branch, and it joins hundreds of others swaying outside shopfronts across Japan every July. Wind chimes ring nearby, carp-shaped streamers flutter from the poles, and after dark everyone looks up for two particular stars — Vega and Altair, the lovers who cross the Milky Way for one night only. Bamboo, wishes, stars: that's the whole festival.

Tap to copy · the toast links to each emoji's meaning.