TOPICS

Tsukimi Party

I’m sure many of you have spent hours gazing at the moon at some point in your lives. In Japan, we also find the moon mesmerizing, and especially in the autmun we have what is called “tsukimi,” which means “looking at the moon.” From thousands of years back, “tsukimi” has been an important event in Japan to express gratitude for a good harvest, and also to wish for another good harvest for the coming year. People gathered on the fifteenth night of the eighth month (“jyugoya no tsukimi”) of the old lunar calendar to celebrate “tsukimi,” and the tradition still lives on. This year, the “jyugoya no tsukimi” was Sept. 13, but at JJ Kitchen, we had a “tsukimi party” the following day. The guests enjoyed meeting new people, eating dishes using autumnal ingredients, and of course, drinking various types