Asian Culture

Tsukimi
dango
The Tsukumi moon viewing custom was the
first introduced to Japan by China, during
the Heian era (794 – 1185), where it was
among a handful of seasonal celebrations of
the beauty of nature. Court nobles
celebrated O-tsukimi by indulging in
banquets, musing and composing poems
dedicated to the moon. Today, it’s
celebrated at temples and shrines, such as
Shimogamo shrine in Kyoto, where dances
are performed in Heian-era dress to period
music.
It takes place on August 15th of the lunar
calendar, and it’s also referred to as Jugoya.
When I stayed in Japan, had the opportunity
of witness this beauty festival, I was in a roji
(dewy path”, a small Japanese tea garden)
on my way to my friend’s tea house.
However, as you round a bamboo fence, the
tiny and simple thatched roof teahouse
comes into view, and you notice that the
windows are dark, and find this a just a little
odd. In the tokonoma and there a scroll
painting of a moon, barely visible
against the palest grey sky, and a bold
arrangement of pampas grass and
autumn flowers are displayed. It’s
grown chilly in recent days, so you’re
happy when your host invites you to sit
close to the coals as he prepares the
kettle for tea.
Then, the light begins to grown brighter
to the east, and you look out of the open
shoji doors to see the moon, barely
visible at first, rising past the trees in
the distance. The sky is cloudless and
the air, clear, rendering the outline of the
moon in crisp detail. As the moon
appears, impossible huge and dazzling
orange. As the moon scatters golden
reflection on the garden pond below,
you watch, speechless, as it rises, past
the sweeping branches of the pines.
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