Moon Viewing (Tsukimi) 月見 Fall Event
What do you see in the moon? In Japan we see rabbits pounding rice cake. I used to try to see rabbits but not easy!The origin of this custom is China as many traditional festivals and events.
In Japan this time of the year some events are held at night. outdoor concerts under full moon. Tea ceremony. I remember my tea ceremony teacher and my friends ordered boxed dinner (bento) and made tea viewing the moon at the park feeling cool breeze.It’s a very wonderful night, sharing tea and beauty of the moon.
This year I couldn’t see full moon in Texas because it’ rainy. But I shared the idea with my first student who joined Japanese Culture Experience at Huffines Recreation Center. She is from Macau. I learned different moon viewing . It’s a lot of fun. In the lesson she wrote moon viewing.
This is written by Ada, Tsukimi(moon viewing)
Last year I viewed the full moon and ate homemade Dango with matcha(powdered green tea). Here in Texas the sky is so big and the moon looked much smaller compared seen in Japan. I found myself tiny in universe. I cerebrated my favorite event last year. This year it’s rainy here.
I decorated with autumn wild flowers and grass in a vase. Always flowers are accompanied with seasonal events.
Wikipedia
Tsukimi (月見) or Otsukimi, literally moon-viewing, refers to Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon. The celebration of the full moon typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese lunisolar calendar; the waxing moon is celebrated on the 13th day of the ninth month. These days normally fall in September and October of the modern solar calendar.
The tradition dates to the Heian era, and is now so popular in Japan that some people repeat the activities for several evenings following the appearance of the full moon during the eighth lunisolar month.
Tsukimi traditions include displaying decorations made from Japanese pampas grass (susuki) and eating rice dumplings called Tsukimi dango in order to celebrate the beauty of the moon. Seasonal produce are also displayed as offerings to the moon. Sweet potatoes are offered to the full moon, while beans or chestnuts are offered to the waxing moon the following month. The alternate names of the celebrations, Imomeigetsu (literally “potato harvest moon”) and Mamemeigetsu (“bean harvest moon”) or Kurimeigetsu (“chestnut harvest moon”) are derived from these offerings.