by obachan in Japan
Food and local sake at the moon festival on September 18. (Katsurahama, Kochi, Japan)
Katsurahama beach is a famous moon-viewing spot where you can enjoy the gorgeous view of the harvest moon over the ocean. Unfortunately the sky was full of clouds while I was there…
Obachan,
Is this a Shinto tradition? On what occasions is this type of offer made? Thanks for the post - quite interesting.
Posted by: beau | 22 September 2005 at 08:41
Hi Beau,
Thanks for your comment. As far as I know, the moon-viewing custom did not come directly from Shinto religion. But maybe the custom is not totally free from religious aspect. In some areas, people probably started offering food like this to thank for the harvest of the year, and in doing so they must have had some kind of God or “spirit” in nature in mind, I guess. So I don’t know if this moon-viewing is a totally religious or non-religious custom. Maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “offer” when it’s not a purely religious ceremony?
In the “related post,” I wrote a little bit of background information about our moon-viewing custom, if you’re interested. It's what I think I know, so may not be totally accurate, but you might at least start seeing the seas of the moon differently after reading it ;)
Posted by: obachan | 22 September 2005 at 21:29