Editing Tanabata (section)

==G8 summit in 2008==
[[File:34th G8 summit member 20080707.jpg|thumb|Participating leaders at the [[34th G8 summit]]]]
In 2008, the [[34th G8 summit]] in [[Tōyako, Hokkaidō]] coincided with Tanabata.<ref>Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA): [http://www.g8summit.go.jp/eng/info/pdf/schedule.pdf Schedule] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219173140/http://www.g8summit.go.jp/eng/info/pdf/schedule.pdf |date=19 December 2008 }}; Reuters (India): [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201010026/http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINT30931120080703?sp=true  "Factbox – Schedule for G8 Summit and Surrounding Events News."] 3 July 2008.</ref>  As host, [[Japanese Prime Minister]] [[Yasuo Fukuda]] invited the G8 leaders to participate in the spirit of the festival. They were each asked to write a wish on a piece of paper called ''tanzaku'', to hang the ''tanzaku'' on a [[bamboo]] tree, and then to take the necessary actions to change the world for the better.<ref>2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum. [http://www.g8ngoforum.org/english/2008/04/about-toyako-tanzaku-action.html  " About Tanzaku Action – One Million Wishes,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20080720085059/http://www.g8ngoforum.org/english/2008/04/about-toyako-tanzaku-action.html |date=20 July 2008 }} July 2008.</ref>  As a symbolic gesture, the actual writing and the act of hanging up that note is at least a first step.<ref>Saito, Mari and Sophie Hardach. [https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST293677  "G8 leaders to wish upon a bamboo tree at summit,"] Reuters. 2 July 2008.</ref>

The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] made colored strips of paper and a bamboo tree for G8 wishes available in [[Roppongi]] during the summit.<ref>Japan, MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/event/2008/6/1180777_936.html "Setting up of the Public Relations Booth for the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit,"] 16 June 2008.</ref> Protesting organizations in [[Sapporo]] during the G8 summit also tried to use the spirit of Tanabata to focus attention on a somewhat different set of wishes. [[Non-governmental organization]]s including [[Oxfam]] and [[CARE (relief)|CARE International]] set up an online wish petition campaign to coincide with the G8 Summit and Tanabata.<ref>Oxfam: [http://www1.oxfam.qc.ca/en/actions/pour_tous/tanabata "Tanabata: Your wishes to the Summit!"] July 2008.</ref> Outside Japan, Fukuda's timely gesture had unanticipated consequences. For example, the Indian nationally circulated newspaper, ''[[The Hindu]]'', picked up on this festival theme by printing an editorial featuring unconventional Tanabata wishes.<ref>Cooper, Andrew F. and Ramesh Takur. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080713023417/http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/07/stories/2008070755351000.htm "Wishing on a star for the G8 summit,"] ''The Hindu'' (Chennai). 7 July 2008.</ref>

Fukuda also invited his fellow citizens to try turning off the lights in their house and stepping outside to enjoy with their family the sight of the Milky Way in the night sky.<ref>Japan, Prime Minister of Japan: [http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/m-magazine/backnumber/2008/0703.html  "Before Tanabata, the Star Festival,"] Fukuda Cabinet E-mail Magazine No. 38 (3 July 2008).</ref> On 7 July, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment anticipated that over 70,000 facilities and households across Japan would switch off their lights from 20:00 to 22:00 as a symbolic step and as a wish for the future.<ref>[http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/cont/g8summit_news/33262.html  "Lights to be turned off at 72,000 facilities on Tanabata night,"] ''Hokkaido Shimbun'' (Sapporo). 4 July 2008.</ref>