Otsukimi(The fifteenth night of a lunar month) is a seasonal festival which we enjoy the moon on one night between

July and September (usually August 15th) on the Chinese calendar.

Otsukimi means “viewing the moon”

In 2015, it falls on September 27^th on the Gregorian calendar.

In Japan, people offer Japanese pampas grass and rice or yam dumplings to the moon.

It is said that Japanese pampas grass protects houses against evil.

People make rice dumplings using crops from their own rice fields.

When old people see the moon,

they thank god for harvest,

they think about their ancestors, and

they pray everything will go well.

It is interesting that the moon on the day isn’t a full moon. The full moon is a day after the day of “Otsukimi”