Shichiseki/Tanabata, Artificial flowerrs

The history of artificial flower-making in Japan goes back to the 8th century, when a poem in the Man yoshu anthology contains a poem apparently referring to such flowers. In the Heian period (794-1 1 85) artificial flowers were made of thread and cloth as a part of seasonal court events. The head of the Unjo-ryu； the final school to carry on this tradition, is located in Kyoto.
The most representative cerempnies featuring courtly artificial flowers are the called Go-sekku. The jinjitsu, Joshi, Tango, Shichiseki, and Choyo originally came from China and were ratified by the shogunate in 1616.
Shichiseki was originally a day to pray for girls to become excellent at handicrafts. Since, in the Heian period, calligraphy written with ink made from the leaves of the kajinoki tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) was held to be impervious to being washed away by water, writing wishes with leaves of the kajinoki became an established custom. For that reason the leaves of the tree became a mandatory decoration during the Shichiseki festival.