The Moon, Susuki, and the Autumn Harvest
On an autumn evening, I sometimes look up at the moon when it is especially beautiful.
But I rarely think, “It’s the night of the full moon, so I should have a special moon-viewing celebration.”
Even so, I have a memory of Tsukimi, the traditional Japanese moon-viewing custom.
It is a memory of three-colored dango from my school lunch.
White, pink, and green.
For some reason, I remember those little dumplings very clearly.
Apparently, I have always remembered what I ate better than where I went.
Even my parents used to say,
“You don’t remember the places we took you, but you remember what we fed you.”
As I learned more about Tsukimi, I discovered that traditional moon viewing was much more closely connected to autumn, nature, and the harvest than I had imagined.
The Full Moon of the Middle of Autumn
Tsukimi traditionally takes place on the night of the 15th day of the eighth month of the old Japanese lunar calendar.
This night was considered the middle of autumn.
Autumn was the season when rice, taro, beans, chestnuts, and many other crops were harvested.
For this reason, Tsukimi was not simply a time to admire the moon. It also became a time to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for the year’s crops.
People looked up at the moon.
And at their feet were the crops of autumn.
Seen this way, Tsukimi was not an event devoted only to the sky.
Why Do People Decorate with Susuki?
When people picture Tsukimi, they often imagine the moon with tall sprays of susuki grass beside it.
But why susuki?
Susuki is one of the plants most strongly associated with the Japanese autumn landscape.
Its shape resembles the ears of rice, so it came to symbolize rice plants and the harvest.
Susuki has also been associated with protection from evil spirits.
So it was not simply an autumn decoration.
It reflected hopes for a good harvest and the way people incorporated plants from the natural world into their daily lives.
Today, most people do not go out into the fields to gather susuki for Tsukimi.
That is perhaps why the sight of susuki arranged for moon viewing can make the customs of an earlier autumn feel surprisingly close.
Autumn Harvests Beside the Moon
One of the best-known foods associated with Tsukimi today is tsukimi dango, round rice-flour dumplings.
Their round shape resembles the full moon.
But dango were not the only offerings made for Tsukimi.
Depending on the region, people also offered taro and other root vegetables, beans, chestnuts, and other crops harvested around this time of year.
When you put the traditional elements of Tsukimi together, you find autumn everywhere:
The moon.
Susuki grass.
Dango.
Taro and other crops.
And the harvest of the year.
Tsukimi was a way of experiencing autumn not only by looking at the moon, but also through the plants and foods of the season.
My Memory of Tsukimi
I still look at the autumn moon sometimes.
But I do not usually decorate my home with susuki or make special preparations for the night of the full moon.
And yet, I remember Tsukimi.
I remember the three-colored dango from my school lunch.
White, pink, and green.
As a child, I knew nothing about the history of Tsukimi.
I simply remember eating those three-colored dango on a day associated with the moon.
Now that I have learned more about traditional Tsukimi, I can see that the moon was only one part of the scene.
There were susuki, autumn crops, and foods prepared for the occasion.
My own memory contains just one small piece of that tradition: three-colored dango.
Perhaps that is enough.
Seasonal customs do not always survive in exactly the same form.
People looked at the moon.
They decorated with susuki.
They offered the fruits of the autumn harvest.
And they ate dango.
The customs may change, but the connection between the autumn moon and the season itself remains.
And the word tsukimi eventually came to describe more than the traditional moon-viewing custom. It also became part of the names of foods.
Tsukimi soba, tsukimi udon, and eventually, the modern Tsukimi Burger.
So when did we start “eating the moon”?
That is the story of the next article.
