the full moon in the night of August 15th 2014 September 9th
In Japan, there is an old fashion to watch and worship the full moon in the night of 15th August by lunar calendar. It falls on September 8th this year.
People look up the beautiful moonlight in a clear autumn sky with the deep appreciation of the harvest.
It is the traditional custom to prepare and place rice flour dumplings made from newly harvested rice together with Japanese pampas grass which is the charm to protect rice from evils.
Farmers and fishermen always have been paying careful attention to movements of the moon which essentially influences to the growth of crops and the effective catching of fishes.
On the other hand, for townspeople, watching the moon is one of 5 major elegant pastimes, namely watching cherry blossoms, listening sound of insects, watching large flowers of chrysanthemum, watching beautifully quiet snow scenery and moon watching.
Therefore, for Japanese, the moon has been very close to their daily life and also the essential religious object. Although Japanese have ritual events to worship the moonlight on many yearly occasions, watching the full moonlight in the night of August 15th is the most popular and most important ritual event among all Japanese.
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