Oct 01, 2020
Mid Autumn Festival 2020 (Japan)
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Today’s Doodle commemorates the Japanese Mid Autumn Festival, also known as Otsukimi (お月見), which translates to “moon viewing.” Dedicated to the celebration of the harvest moon–the first full moon after the autumnal equinox–the holiday provides an opportunity to appreciate the year’s harvest and reflect on the passage of the seasons.
The Japanese tradition of Otsukimi is said to date back well over a millennium to the country’s Nara period of the 700s. During the Heian period that followed, Japan’s aristocrats were known to celebrate with festive banquets, boat outings, and moonlit poetry recitals. The holiday gained popularity over the centuries and today is celebrated across the country.
One way many honor Otsukimi is to decorate their homes with pampas grass or susuki, a symbol of the season’s bounty. Custom also calls for the preparation of special dishes like tsukimi-dango, bite-sized rice dumplings (a staple food in Japan) that resemble the full moon and are reputed to bring health and good fortune.
Happy Mid Autumn Festival, Japan!
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