Nagoshi no Harae, summer celebration day
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June 1st was the first day to open an icehouse in ancient Japan and people ate ice or rice cakes to prepare the hot summer.
The harvest moon
- September 28, 2021
- category: Japanese Culture
Chushu no Meigetsu
On 21st of September, we had a beautiful full moon. And this full moon is a little special for Japanese. This full moon in the early autumn is called Chushu no Meigetsu (中秋の名月), the harvest great moon.
Apart from contemplating the beautiful moon, Chushu no Meigetsu also has a significant meaning. This is the first day of the harvest and Japanese used to celebrate it with tsukimi-dango (full moon dumpling / 月見団子) and to decorate susuki pampas grasses which were beautifully swinging and shining in the night scape.
We’re luckily able to view it this year. Around 8 pm, the sky was so clouded that I could only see it behind the cloud, and then, suddenly the sky became clear and the moon was astonishingly shining. I of course wished for peace for all of us in this world as our ancestors did.
This is a song imaging another moon, titled “Hazy moon”.
Tsukimi-dango decoration and Susuki grass
We ask the powers of the full moon and wish to able to live long healthy happy life. And also we thanked the harvested rice with this dango which is made from rice flour.
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