Otsukimi, It’s fun to enjoy a long night in Autumn

In Japan, It is said that the air is clearest in Autumn and the moon seems to be beautiful at the time. Watching the nice full moon on August 15 of the Japanese Lunar calendar is called “Otsukimi” and many people enjoy it with family or friends.

Indispensable stuffs at Otsukimi

There are some things indispensable at Otsukimi as follows.

• “Tsukimi Dango” Dumplings for watching the moon
  Tsukimi Dango are special dumplings we can eat while watching the moon. It looks like the full moon. There are 15 dumplings prepared that represent the date of the night, and serves as our offering to God.
• Pampas grass
  Japanese rice plants used to be decorated as offerings in the old days. However, these days, Pampas grass are substituted to like it now.
• Sake
  Drinking “Sake” means showing gratitude for the god and drinking it with them.
• Taro root
  Those are offered as a celebration of the harvest.

The reason why Japanese imagine Rabbits while Otsukimi

The pattern of the full moon is said to look like the rabbit that pounds rice into “mochi ”, which is a rice cake that ages throughout Japan.
Since many Japanese are taught by parents that the pattern of the moon looks like the rabbit in our childhood, some Japanese imagine the shape of the rabbit when we see the moon.

Shall we enjoy Autumn night looking for the shape of a rabbit on the moon?