Japan: Holidays & Celebrations
[o-shogatsu] [seijin-no-hi] [o-bon] [tsukimi] [taiku-no-hi] [omisoka]
[List of Holidays] [Map] [Reading List]
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MID SEPTEMBER
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"In tsukimi season, with the moon being full and at its visual best, people used to put out dumplings, vegetables, and pampas grass as offerings to the moon. Currently, such a formal style has been disappearing due to people's hectic life and small residences.
"In my family's case, we used to observe tsukimi in a simple way by just putting some pampas grass in a vase. My mother used to say, 'Masao, go outside and pick some pampas grass please.' After school, I would go to the nearby field with my brother and friends to look for the slender plant. While running around to spot the plant as night approached, we sometimes stopped in the darkening field, compelled to look up at the beautiful full moon, amid emotional melodies by crickets.
"Although still young at that time, I believe we already had the sense and emotion to appreciate nature's beauty, and this attitude must have been nurtured through our involvement in various Japanese traditions mostly linked with nature. Traditionally, Japanese people have regarded nature as something alive and sacred. They therefore try to attain oneness with it.
"I am convinced of this national peculiarity by the following episode. An American working for a Japanese firm joined a company banquet in late October. All in all, it was very noisy with people chatting, drinking and singing. But suddenly the Japanese staff became silent, looking in the same direction through the opened window. The bewildered American also looked in the same direction to see what had happened there-but nothing appeared except the beautiful moon. 'Through the night, I have learned what tsukimi means to people in this country,' he said with a smile."
[List of Holidays] [Map] [Reading List]
PRODUCED BY INDIANA UNIVERSITY:
East Asian Studies Center
ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education
National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies