Kikyo's diary

This blog introduces daily lives, travel, food, culture, work in Japan.

Tsukimi, Moon Viewing

 

 

We have many seasonal events in Japan, which are often held in shrines and temples.
In Shinto, it is said that “yaoyorozu no kami” which means eight million gods are existing in nature, even in mountain, trees, river, ocean, all over the places.

 

In autumn, one of the events is the moon viewing called “Otsukimi.”
Today, October 4th is the moon viewing day in Japan.
The moon is called “Chushu-no-meigetsu”, which means “Mid-Autumn moon” or “Harvest moon” in English.

 

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We enjoy viewing the full moon (not always full moon) at night, offering “tsukimi-dango” (sweet rice dumplings),”susuki”(pampas grass),fruits or vegetables.

 

The sweet rice dumpling are the offering to the moon to appreciate the harvest of grains.
It is said that Shito gods house in pampas grass and act as a charm against evil.

 

In Japan, it is said and children believe that there are rabbits on the moon.
It is because the lunar craters look like a rabbit is pounding rice dumpling with a pestle.

Japanese noodles such as Udon or Soba with a raw egg on top are called “tsukimi” Udon or Soba. The egg looks like a full moon.
During this limited period, MacDonald Japan sell “tsukimi” burger with a sunny-side up egg.

Japanese Calendar, 2017

 

 

         

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 National holidays in Japan

2-Jan

New Year's Day gantan
9-Jan Coming of Age Day seijin no hi
11-Feb National Foundation Day kenkoku kinen no hi
20-Mar Spring Equinox shunbun no hi
29-Apr Showa Day showa no hi
3-May Constitution Day kenpo kinenbi
4-May Greenery Day midori no hi
5-May Childrens' Day kodomo no hi
17-Jul Marine Day umi no hi
11-Aug Mountain Day yama no hi
18-Sep Respect for the Aged Day keiro no hi
23-Sep Autumn Equinox shubun no hi
9-Oct Sports Day taiiku no hi
3-Nov Culture Day bunka no hi
23-Nov Labour Thanksgiving Day kinro kansha no hi
23-Dec Emperor's Birthday tenno tanjobi

Taiiku-no-hi, or National Sports Day


 

Taiiku-no-hi, or National Sports Day (October 9th, 2017)

National Sports Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October.
It is one of the national holidays in Japan.
This year National Sports Day is on October 9th.

The date used to be October 10th to commemorate the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2000, it was changed to the second Monday of October by a new law.

 

The aim of this day is to enjoy sports and promote the mental and physical health of the people.
So many sports festivals are held in this day.
You could see many people or students are enjoying sports in the school grounds. 

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Please remember this date is a National holiday.

Some facilities may be closed or the timetable may be changed.

 

kikyohana.hatenablog.jp

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Mt. Fuji and Shinkansen (Bullet train)

 

 

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These are Mount Fuji and Shinkansen or bullet train.  These are symbols of Japan.
 Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It is 3776 meters above sea level.

 

When it is fine day, you could see Mt. Fuji from the window of the Shinkansen.

When you ride on the Sinkansen bound for Kyoto from Tokyo, you can see Mt. Fuji well on the right side, the mountain side.

If you ride on the Sinkansen bound for Tokyo from West Japan, you can see Mt. Fuji well on the left side, the mountain side, not on the ocean side.

 

You can see Mt. Fuji well near Shin-Fuji station, Shizuoka Prefecture.


The view of Mt. Fuji from the window of the Shinkansen 

 

  Mount Fuji, Fujisan in Japanese was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013. 

whc.unesco.org

 

 

I start to write my blog in English

 

 

Hi, I am Kikyo, the writer of this blog.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

You might see my Japanese blog "Daisuki!  Kabunushi Yutai", meaning "Love! shareholder benefits."  

I write about the shareholder benefits called Kabunushi Yutai(just called Yutai) in my Japanese blog.

Yutai is getting very popular among Japanese individual investors.  

Many Japanese compaies give Yutai to their shareholders.

 

 The image below is Yutai gift from the company called KDDI.  These are ice cream!

 KDDI is not an ice cream company, but the telecommunications company, though.

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These Yutai are various stuffs such as their companies' own products,the discount tickets, special gifts and so on.

I love these Yutai !   They are really nice gifts from the comapnies.

 

I would like to write about various things Japanese in this English blog.

So please visit my blog again.

Thank you so much, and I hope you have a wonderful day !