The Seventh Month (Shichi gatsu), from the series "Fashionable Twelve Months (Furyu junikagetsu)" c. 1793

This woodblock print by Utagawa Toyokuni I depicts a scene from the seventh month, featuring a woman surrounded by symbolic motifs. The bamboo, prominently displayed, represents resilience and flexibility, qualities deeply admired in Japanese culture. Note how the woman ties a tanzaku, a wish-bearing paper strip, to the bamboo, echoing practices of Tanabata, the Star Festival. The handwritten wishes mirror the human desire to inscribe meaning onto the natural world, reminiscent of ancient votive offerings. Consider the presence of fans, symbols of status and aesthetic sensibility, scattered nearby. Such items reappear in diverse cultural contexts, from ancient Egyptian burial sites to European Renaissance courts, each time imbued with localized significance. They are not mere objects but potent carriers of social and emotional histories. In a way, the cyclical return and adaptation of symbols like these reveal a collective yearning for continuity and understanding, constantly re-emerging and evolving.