Rabbit in the moon

In Japanese folklore, the old man in the moon came down to earth.  He wanted to find the kindest animal within a group of animal friends.  He asked for food from the three animals.  Two found him food, but when the rabbit came up empty handed he offered himself as food.  The man found it to be the most kind, so he took the rabbit back to the moon with him.  They say if you look in the moon, you can see the rabbit there, shining brightly.

Rabbit pounding mochi on the moon.

Photo courtesy of jadeturtlerecords.blogspot.com

Every September or October, Japanese people celebrate Tsukimi to remember the story of the rabbit in the moon.  They watch the moon (if the sky is clear) and eat a special dango - sweet red bean paste wrapped with mochi.  The dango is arranged in a tower. 

We celebrated it last year by going up to the top of Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.  This year, we celebrated the "right way" with the special dango.  The dango we purchased included one yellow one that we placed on top of the tower.  My son was so happy because the yellow dango did not have red bean paste in it.  We also decorated our house with susuki, frons of Japanese pampas grass or silver grass. It is believed that the grass will protect the house from evil.

People also enjoy chestnuts, pumpkin, soba and udon. We ate chicken soup, because I have a couple of people with colds in my house.  So, we ate our soup and then enjoyed dango, despite the rainy night. 

Since my son has been learning about the traditional folklore at school, he was extra excited to enjoy the holiday.  Even though life can be hard living here, when I see my son getting really excited about Japanese traditions, it make it all worth it.  He is learning so much and I think that is truly wonderful.