Mid Autumn Festival 2019 (Japan)

“May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together,
even if we are hundreds of miles apart”
—Mid-Autumn Festival Tune by Su Shi (poet from the Northern Song Dynasty)

Today’s Doodle represents the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important annual holidays in East Asia. The event, also known as the Moon Festival, takes place every year on the first full moon after the fall equinox, traditionally the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Originally celebrated in China for thousands of years, over time the festival spread from the royal classes to the common folk and eventually all across the region, including Japan, where the local culture developed its own special customs and traditions.

No Moon Festival is complete without mooncakes, traditionally baked or steamed at home, but now sold everywhere in a range of flavors from savory—roast pork, egg—to sweet—red bean paste, fruit, nuts, seeds, even chocolate. They are always round like the full moon, a shape that reflects the concept of a family reunion. When a mooncake is shared after a traditional family meal, it must be cut into a specific number of equal parts. At times a piece or two will be saved for an absent loved one to enjoy when they come home.

In Japan, the Mid-Autumn Festival is called Tsukimi or Otsukimi, which translates to “moon viewing,” or Jugoya, meaning the night of the fifteenth. A solemn occasion, Tsukimi is a time to wear traditional garments and visit temples to burn incense and express thanks for the harvest. Children collect reeds and pampas grass, which was once used to make thatched roofs and feed livestock. Placed in a vase by the front door, pampas grass is said to keep evil spirits away. Families share a meal featuring platters of tsukimi dango, small rice dumplings, and mooncakes, which are known as geppei in Japanese.

Early drafts by artist Allissa Chan