In the 5th to 6th century, Chinese traders arrived, bringing with them silk-weaving technology. Some settled at the foot of the eastern mountains, the current location of Hatamono Shrine. The shrine, dedicated to these settlers, later came to be associated with the Tanabata myth, and the shrine came to be referred to as the Hatamono (weaving) shrine. The Tanabata Festival, reinstituted as an annual festival in 1979, has become Katano City's largest festival, drawing crowds of visitors every year.