#tsukimi dango

[fattributes]

Tsukimi Dango

[tenjin-no-shinja]

I wanted to share my belated Otsukimi display with you! I wanted to do something special after reading about Otsukimi traditions that Toukyo wrote about in her most recent article.

I picked the flowers myself at a local florist shop, and made the Tsukimi dango from scratch.

The top row of tsukimi dango are dyed yellow to look like a full moon! I used JustOneCookbook's excellent recipe. The dying was inspired by them using pumpkin, but since I’m not a big fan of pumpkin I just used food coloring.

As for the flowers I picked a sunflower cause it’s a quintessential fall flower here in the States, but also to juxtaposition the symbolism of the sun with the moon. I also picked some plants that I thought looked like wheat stalks or ears of rice, to match the symbolism of the festival. And because the green would stand out.

The ema on the far right is one that I painted back when I was in Japan, and shows a rabbit holding a tray of Tsukimi dango with pampas grass in the background. I was lucky to at least get to admire the full moon on the actual date of Otsukimi, so today is my belated display setup. Plus the moon will still be quite full for the next few days.

Anyways enjoy!

[morethansalad]

Tsukimi Dango (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

[tanuki-kimono]

Tsukimi (moon festival) obi depicting a moon rabbit beside pampa grass, some tsukimi dango (round mochi) and (of course) a glowing moon. This obi is a custom made from a recycled mofuku (mourning obi) which was handpainted by OP’s husband :)

[my-plastic-life]

Happy mid-autumn festival! Kiku is participating in the Japanese custom of celebrating a good autumn harvest, as well as tsukimi. Literally called "moon viewing," this Japanese custom dates back to the Heian period (794-1185). Autumn moon viewing has long been a popular pastime in Japan. Traditionally it was a way of expressing gratitude for a good harvest and hopes for similar bounty in the future.

Tsukimi is not only about admiring the moon, but originally a way to pray for good harvest, as the moon’s round shape symbolizes fertility. The full moon is auspicious for a large and successful harvest.

For tsukimi, Japanese people display Japanese pampas grass (susuki) as good luck charms because they look like rice plants. Seasonal products are also offered to the moon. For tonight, Kiku is offering chestnuts and green soybeans. It's also common to display some vegetables like cucumbers and eggplants using bamboo sticks to make them look like animals. Kiku has also done that!

She's also offering the most popular item - the tsukimi dango, or rice flour dumplings. These are offered because each dumpling looks similar to a full moon. They're also arranged a certain way for this occasion. After offering them to the moon, the tsukimi dango are eaten in order to obtain good health and happiness.

Here in the U.S. and Western cultures, we see a "man in the moon." For Japan, it's the "rabbit in the moon." Instead of a man's face, you see a rabbit making mochi (rice cakes). There's an old legend about the origination of the "moon rabbit," including the belief that rabbits originally came from the moon. Oh look, here's one now!

(Sorry, I don't have any Calico Critters or other bunnies that would work, so Easter Kelly will have to suffice lol)

Kiku is embracing her inner "moon rabbit" with her adorable outfit for viewing the moon.

There are several dishes considered to be good luck to eat during tsukimi, and Kiku is making sure to take part! First up is her tsukimi udon noodles topped with a raw egg (the egg symbolizes the full moon).

There is also rabbit-shaped mochi and moon cakes, which are customary to be eaten with family and friends. Kiku's best friend, Miwa, has arrived, and the two will continue to gaze at the moon together while enjoying their treats. Kiku is holding the rabbit mochi, while Miwa has taken a bite out of her moon cake.

[mrtechnodads-updates-deactived]

Days seem sometimes as if they'll never end

Sun digs its heels to taunt you

But after sunlit days, one thing stays the same

Rises the moon

—Rises the Moon by Liana Flores

x

[aishiteru-kenshin]

Autumn Moon Viewing

Late September — Mid-November Tsukimi means nothing more than "looking at the moon." However, the Japanese custom of holding special moon-viewing parties, in autumn in particular, dates back over a thousand years. Harvest Prayers Autumn moon-viewing, or tsukimi, has long been a popular pastime in Japan. Traditionally, it was a way of expressing gratitude for a good harvest and hopes for similar bounty in the future. On the old lunar calendar, the full moon appeared on the fifteenth night (jūgoya) of each month. The best night in the year for observing the celestial body is said to be the fifteenth night of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, known as jūgoya no tsukimi.

According to traditional reckoning, autumn was from the seventh through the ninth months. The exact midpoint of the season, the fifteenth night of the eighth month, was called chūshū (mid-autumn), so another name for the full moon that night is chūshū no meigetsu (the mid-autumn moon).

The custom of jūgoya moon-viewing began in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and spread to Japan thereafter. The aristocrats of the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794–1185) periods enjoyed moon-viewing parties at which they played music and composed poetry. By the Edo period (1603–1868), tsukimi had come to be a popular practice even among commoners, and was closely associated with autumn festival traditions involving thankful offerings of freshly harvested rice to the gods. Moon-Viewing Decorations The place where people gather to view the moon, such as a veranda or window, is known as the tsukimidai. It is traditionally decorated with such offerings as rice dumplings called tsukimi-dango and produce like taro as well as susuki, or pampas grass. There may also be special displays associated with the tea ceremony or ikebana. 1. Tsukimi-Dango These round rice dumplings represent the full moon. The shape is also considered to be auspicious and eating tsukimi-dango is said to bring health and happiness. One tradition is to display 15 dumplings to match the fifteenth night, while another calls for 12 dango, one for each of the months. 2. Susuki Five or ten plumes of pampas grass on display represent the bounty of rice plants, which they resemble. 3. Taro As taro bulbs produce many shoots, they are associated with a large and prosperous family. 4. Autumnal Produce Seasonal produce like edamame soybeans, chestnuts, and pumpkins are also offered during the moon-viewing festival. The Rabbit in The Moon In Japan, instead of the Man in The Moon, the moon is said to present the image of a rabbit pounding mochi rice cakes with a mallet. According to one theory, this is based on a Buddhist tale that later became well known in Japan. Another theory is that it is a play on the word mochizuki, meaning “full moon,” which also sounds like the word for pounding mochi.

[anime--food]

Deaimon - Episode 6