Tsukimi
Tsukimi ( Japanese 月 見 , dt. "Mondschau"), also with the honorary prefix Otsukimi ( お 月 見 ), or Jūgoya ( 十五 夜 , “15th night”), is a Japanese festival in honor of the autumn moon as the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese one Moon festival . The celebration of the full moon usually takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese solar calendar ; the waxing moon is celebrated on the 13th day of the ninth month. These days usually fall in September or October of our solar calendar today. The tradition goes back to the Heian period back and is so popular in Japan that some its customs also exercise on subsequent evenings today.
Tsukimi customs include making bouquets of Japanese pampas grass ( susuki ) and making and eating rice cakes called tsukimi dango to celebrate the beauty of the moon. Seasonal dishes are also offered as offerings to the moon. Sweet potatoes are sacrificed to the full moon, while beans or chestnuts are sacrificed to the waxing moon the following month. The alternative names of the festival Imomeigetsu ( 芋 名 月 , “Potato Harvest Moon ”) and Mamemeigetsu ( 豆 名 月 , “Bean Harvest Moon ”) or Kurimeigetsu ( 栗 名 月 , “ Chestnut Harvest Moon ”) were derived from these customs.
history
Tsukimi goes back to the Japanese tradition of holding festivals in order to observe the harvest moon . It is believed that the custom arose during the Heian period among Japanese nobles who gathered to recite poetry under the full moon . This eighth month of the Japanese solar calendar (roughly September in the Gregorian calendar ) has been described time and again as the best time to view the moon, as the relative positions of the earth, moon and sun make the moon appear particularly bright. On the evening of the full moon, it is tradition to gather in a place where the moon can be clearly seen, decorate the scene with pampas grass and rice cakes called tsukimi dango, as well as taro , edamame , chestnuts and other seasonal dishes with sake as offerings to serve to the moon to pray for a rich harvest. These foods together are known as tsukimi food ( 月 見 料理 , tsukimi ryōri ). Because of the common use of sweet potatoes or taro, this festival is also known as Imomeigetsu, or Potato Harvest Moon, in some parts of Japan .
From 862 to 1683, the Japanese calendar was such that the full moon always fell on the 13th day of each month. From 1684, however, the calendar was changed so that the new moon always fell on the first day of the month, so that the full moon was moved two weeks back, i.e. to the 15th day of the month. While some people in Edo (now Tokyo ) moved their tsukimi customs to the 15th day, others kept the old date, the 13th. In addition, in some regions there were evening moon shows on the 17th day of the month and Buddhist festivals of this kind on the 23rd and 26th day, which were often used as a pretext for the lavish nocturnal festivals during the Edo period in autumn. However, these customs quickly came to an end during the Meiji period .
Festivals dedicated to the moon have a long history in Japan. Set pieces of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival were introduced to Japan during the Heian period . Nobles held moon show festivals on boats to watch the reflection of the moonlight on the surface of the water. Writing Tanka poems was also part of the customs of the mid-autumn festival. There are special terms in Japanese to express that the moon is not visible on the evening of the Moon Festival. These include Mugetsu ( 無 月 , "without moon") and Ugetsu ( 雨 月 , "rain moon"). But even when the moon is not visible, the tsukimi is celebrated.
Special dishes
As already mentioned, it is a tradition to eat rice cakes, tsukimi dango , and seasonal dishes and to offer them as offerings. But there are a few other dishes that are associated with tsukimi. Boiled soba or udon noodles with nori and raw egg in broth e.g. B. are known as tsukimi soba or tsukimi udon . In Kitakyūshū , yaki udon , garnished with an egg, is called tenmado , another name for tsukimi in the local dialect. Similarly, sushi topped with a raw quail egg is known as the tsukimi style. In some Japanese fast food restaurants, a special dish with fried egg sandwiches called a tsukimi burger is offered in September and October .