Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Production : March 2005–October 2007

Platform : CT9A

Transmission(s) : 5-speed manual,6-speed manual

Wheelbase : 2,625 mm (103.3 in)

Length : 4,490 mm (176.8 in)

Width : 1,770 mm (69.7 in)

Height : 1,450 mm (57.1 in)

Curb weight : 1,310–1,490 kg (2,888–3,285 lb)

Manufacturer : Mitsubishi Motors

Also called : "Evo" (colloquial)

Production : 1992–present

Assembly : Mizushima Plant, Kurashiki, Okayama

Class : Sport compact, World Rally, Car Sports car

Body style(s) : 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon (Evo IX, 2007)

Layout : Front engine, 4WD

Engine(s) : 2.0 L I4 turbo 4G63T (1992–2007), 4B11T (2007–present)

Related : Mitsubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi Racing Lancer

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, colloquially known as the Evo, is a high-performance version of Mitsubishi
Lancer, manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of
each model is most commonly a roman numeral. All uses two litre, turbocharged engines and four-wheel drive
systems. Evolution models prior to version VII were the homologation models for Mitsubishi's efforts in the World
Rally Championship. In order to follow these rules, the Evolution was based on the same unibody as the Lancer
sedan.

The Evolution was originally intended only for Japanese markets, but demand on the "grey import" market led the
Evolution series to be offered through Ralliart dealer networks in the United Kingdom and in various European
markets from around 1998. Mitsubishi decided to export the eighth generation Evolution to the United States in
2003 after witnessing the success Subaru had in that market with their Impreza WRX, a direct competitor in other
global regions.

Japanese-spec cars were limited by a gentlemen's agreement to advertise no more than 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp), a
mark already reached by Evolution IV. Therefore, each subsequent version has unofficially evolved above the
advertised power figures, with the Japanese-spec Evolution IX reaching an alleged output of around 321 PS
(236 kW; 317 hp). Various versions available in other markets, particularly the UK, have official power outputs up
to 411 PS (302 kW; 405 hp).

The tenth generation of the Lancer Evolution was launched in Japan 2007, and overseas markets in 2008.

Mitsubishi introduced the Lancer Evolution IX in Japan on March 3, 2005, and exhibited the car at the Geneva
Motor Show for the European market the same day. The North American markets saw the model exhibited at the
New York International Auto Show the following month.[11] The 2.0 L 4G63 engine has MIVEC technology
(variable valve timing), and a revised turbocharger design boosting official power output at the crankshaft to 291 PS
(214 kW; 287 hp) and torque to 392 N·m (289 lb·ft).
Tanabata
Tanabata (七夕 tanabata?, meaning "Evening of the seventh") is a Japanese star festival, derived from the Chinese
star festival, Qi Xi (七夕 "The Night of Sevens")．

It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that
crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the
seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night, once the stars come out.

he festival originated from The Festival to Plead for Skills (乞巧奠; きっこうでん), an alternative name for Qi Xi,
which was celebrated in China and also was adopted in the Kyoto Imperial Palace from the Heian Period. The
festival spread to the general public by the early Edo period, became mixed with various Obon or Bon
(盆）traditions (because Bon was held on 15th of the seventh month then), and developed into the modern Tanabata
festival. In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting
by writing wishes on strips of paper. At this time, the custom was to use dew left on taro leaves to create the ink
used to write wishes. Incidentally, Bon is now held on 15 August on the solar calendar, close to its original date on
the lunar calendar, making Tanabata and Bon as further separate events.

The name Tanabata is remotely related to the Japanese reading of the Chinese letters 七夕, which used to be read as
"Shichiseki" (しちせき). It is believed that a Shinto purification ceremony existed around the same time, in which a
Shinto miko wove a special cloth on a loom called a Tanabata 棚機 (たなばた) near waters and offered it to a god
to pray for protection of rice crops from rain or storm and for good harvest later in autumn. Gradually this ceremony
merged with 乞巧奠（きっこうでん, (The Festival to Plead for Skills) and became Tanabata 七夕. Oddly the
Chinese writing 七夕 and the Japanese reading Tanabata (たなばた) joined to mean the same festival, although
originally they were two different things, an example of ateji.

Story

Like Qi Xi and Chilseok, Tanabata was inspired by the famous Chinese folklore, The Princess and the Cowherd.

Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess?), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King, or the universe itself?), wove beautiful
clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川 Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"?). Her father loved the cloth that
she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard
work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to
meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder Star?) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛?)) who lived and worked on the other
side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter.
However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray
all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet.
Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was
moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard
and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river
because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge
with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and
the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.

The following variation of the story is known in China and Japan: A young farmer named Mikeran discovered on his
farm a robe which, unbeknownst to him, belonged to a goddess named Tanabata. Soon after, Tanabata visited
Mikeran and asked if he had found it. He lied and told the goddess that he hadn't but would help with her search.
Eventually the pair fell in love, were wed and had many children. However, one day Tanabata noticed a piece of
cloth which had once belonged to her robe on the roof of Mikeran's hut. His lie discovered, Tanabata agreed to
forgive him on the condition that he weave a thousand pairs of straw shoes, but until that time, she would leave him.
Mikeran was unable to weave the shoes in his lifetime and thus never met Tanabata again. However, it is said that
the pair meet once a year when the stars Altair and Vega intersect.
Customs

In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on
tanzaku (短冊 tanzaku?), small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations.
The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the
next day. This resembles the custom of floating paper ships and candles on rivers during Obon. Many areas in Japan
have their own Tanabata customs, which are mostly related to local Obon traditions. There is also a traditional
Tanabata song:

Sasa no ha sara-sara (笹の葉　さらさら)

Nokiba ni yureru (軒端にゆれる)
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira (お星 様　キラキラ)
Kingin sunago (金銀砂子)

Translation:

The bamboo leaves rustle, rustle,

shaking away in the eaves.
The stars go twinkle, twinkle;
Gold and silver grains of sand.

Date

The original Tanabata date was based on the Japanese lunisolar calendar, which is about a month behind the
Gregorian calendar. As a result, some festivals are held on July 7, some are held on a few days around August 7,
while the others are still held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the traditional Japanese lunisolar
calendar, which is usually in August in the Gregorian Calendar.

The Gregorian dates of "the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Japanese lunisolar calendar" for the
coming years are:

• 2010-08-16
• 2011-08-06
• 2012-08-24 (The Chinese date is 2012-08-23 because of the time difference.)
• 2013-08-13
• 2014-08-02
• 2015-08-20
• 2016-08-09
• 2017-08-28
• 2018-08-17
• 2019-08-07
• 2020-08-25

Festivals

Large-scale Tanabata festivals are held in many places in Japan, mainly along shopping malls and streets, which are
decorated with large, colorful streamers. The most famous Tanabata festival is held in Sendai from August 5 to
August 8. In the Kantō area, the biggest Tanabata festival is held in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa for a few days around July
7. A Tanabata festival is also held in São Paulo, Brazil around the first weekend of July.
Although Tanabata festivals vary from region to region, most festivals involve Tanabata decoration competitions.
Other events may include parades and Miss Tanabata contests. Like other Japanese festivals, many outdoor stalls
sell food, provide carnival games, etc., and add to the festive atmosphere.

Sendai Tanabata Festival

The Sendai Tanabata festival began shortly after the city was founded in the early Edo Period. The Tanabata festival
gradually developed and became larger over the years. Although the festival's popularity started to dwindle after the
Meiji Restoration, and almost disappeared during the economic depression that occurred after World War I,
volunteers in Sendai revived the festival in 1928 and established the tradition of holding the festival from August 6
to August 8.

During World War II it was impossible to hold the festival, and almost no decorations were seen in the city from
1943 to 1945, but after the war, the first major Tanabata festival in Sendai was held in 1946, and featured 52
decorations. In 1947, the Showa Emperor Hirohito visited Sendai and was greeted by 5,000 Tanabata decorations.
The festival subsequently developed into one of the three major summer festivals in the Tohoku region and became
a major tourist attraction. The festival now includes a fireworks show that is held on August 5.

At the Sendai Tanabata festival, people traditionally use seven different kinds of decorations, which each represent
different meanings. The seven decorations and their symbolic meanings are:

Paper Kimono (紙衣; Purse (巾着; Kinchaku) :

Paper strips (短冊; Paper Crane (折り鶴;
Kamigoromo) : Wishes for good Good business
Tanzaku) : Wishes for good Orizuru) : Family safety,
sewing. Wards off accidents and
handwriting and studies health, and long life
bad health.

Trash Bag (くずかご; Streamers (吹き流し;

Net (投網; Toami) : Good
Kuzukago) : Cleanliness and Fukinagashi) : The strings
fishing and harvests
unwastefulness that Orihime uses to weave

The ornamental ball (くす玉; Kusudama) often decorated above streamers in present-day Tanabata decorations was
originally conceived in 1946 by the owner of a shop in downtown Sendai. The ball was originally modelled after the
Dahlia flower. In recent years, box-shaped ornaments have become popular alternatives to the ornamental ball.
G8 summit

In 2008, the 34th G8 summit in Toyako, Hokkaido coincided with Tanabata. 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 better. As a symbolic gesture, the actual writing and the act of hanging up that note is at least a
first step.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made colored strips of paper and a bamboo tree for G8 wishes available in
Roppongi during the summit.

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 organizations like Oxfam, and CARE International set up
an online wish petition campaign to coincide with the G8 Summit and Tanabata.

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.

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. On July 7, 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.