Venus in Japanese

After two days and nights of rain, Sunday is cold, clear, crisp.  An afternoon walk, and at dusk the new moon and Venus visible from a promenade along a river in Kyoto.  I know the closely paired Jupiter will appear within 30 minutes, find a bench, and sit facing West.

An elderly gentleman of about 70 offers a greeting.  I point and say HOSHI, Japanese for star.  It has the same pronunciation as the word for HOPE.

He says a phrase,  I evince interest, he pulls off my glove and spells the word onto my palm. He writes the Chinese character and explains more than I can understand--something about bright.

I walk the hour home repeating the phrase.  I think it has something to do with the bright night sky of Japan, liking stars, welcome to Kyoto.  But in fact it means only Evening Star, Venus.

I ask a friend if there is a matching phrase for Morning Star, Venus.  She guesses, but confesses that she has never heard a phrase.