Otsukimi
お月見© The Japan Society (2021)

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Otsukimi
Otsukimi is an autumn festival in Japan. In Japanese,
Tsuki means “moon” and “mi” means to watch or view. So
Tsukimi* (tsue-key-me) means “Moon Viewing” and is afestival which celebrates the harvest moon.
The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox(the beginning of autumn). Around this time, the full moon is especially brightand rises earlier as days get shorter. In the past, the light from the harvest moonhelped farmers to gather their crops before the winter, allowing them to work
after the daylight had disappeared.
The celebration is not as popular as the past but people still observe the festival
today to pray for a good harvest.

Can you think of an autumn festival that we celebrate here in the UK?

Decorations
For Tsukimi, people display food and decorations in a room
where they can see the moon easily. Common decorations
include rabbits, round foods, and a plant called pampas
grass because it looks like a rice plant and symbolises agood harvest.

Can you guess why round foods are part of the display?

* For important words in Japan, an ‘O’ is added in front to show respect. So Tsukimiand Otsukimi have the same meaning, but using ‘O’ is more polite language.

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Food
The most common food to display for Tsukimi is rice dumplings called Tsukimi
Dango because they are white and round – just like the moon! Other seasonal
foods such as chestnuts and sweet potatoes might also be part of a Tsukimi display.
Around the time of the festival, many restaurants and shops produce special
editions of their products for Tsukimi, such as rabbit-shaped sweet buns or adding
an egg to hamburgers or noodles to symbolise the full moon.

tsukimi udon noodles

sweet rabbit buns

What foods do you associate with autumn?

Rabbit on the Moon
Did you know there is a myth in Japan that rabbits live on the moon? According
to the story, one day, a fox, a monkey and a rabbit came across an old man lying
on the ground. He was weak and tired so the three animals set out to collect somefood for him.
The fox caught fish from the river and the monkey collected fruit from trees, but
the rabbit didn’t know what to do. He was so upset that he didn’t have anything
to give the old man and so he made a fire and offered to cook himself for the old
man to eat!
Suddenly, the old man transformed into the Old Man of the Moon. He wasso touched by the rabbit’s generosity that he took him back to the moonwith him. It is said that, if you look closely today, you can see the rabbiton the moon.

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otsuki

miKanji Characters
In Japanese, the character 月 means “moon” and 見 means “to view” or “to watch”.
Together the two characters make up the festival name Tsukimi.
Can you write Tsukimi in Japanese? Follow the stroke order to trace the characters
below, then try on your own.

①②① ③③④④⑤⑥⑦Well done! Now you can practice writing the characters 兎, for ‘rabbit’ and 秋, for‘autumn’.

兎兎秋秋①②⑤③④⑦⑥①②④③⑤⑥⑦⑨The Japan
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Origami Activity: Tsukimi Rabbit
You will need:• origami/ square coloured paper• pencil or pen

1.Fold origami
paper in half.

2. Fold in half to make creasethen fold back to open.

3. Fold up.

4. Fold up toalign along thecentre line.

6. Fold tothe back.

5. Flip over.

7. Fold to theback, then draw
the eyes andmouth.

8. Done!
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SocietyEducation
Resources| education@japansociety.org.uk| www.japansociety.org.uk© The
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© The Japan Society (2021)© The Japan Society (2021) | www.japansociety.org.uk | education@japansociety.org.uk