Complete Your Moon-Viewing ( O-Tsukimi) For This Year- Tonight With The Ju-Sanya ( 13th night) Moon
These days, when most Japanese think of O-Tsukimi (お月見- moon-viewing）they imagine admiring and making offerings ( of seasonal foods and grasses) to the full moon of mid-autumn, the biggest looking and most beautiful moon of the year, which appears on the 15th night of the 8th month of the old lunar calendar ( which was October 3rd this year). Since according to this calendar the full moon almost always occurs on the 15th of the month, besides he word MANGETSU ( 満月), which literally means FULL MOON, there is another expression- JU-GOYA (十五夜), directly translatable as THE 15th NIGHT, which in the past could be used to indicate any full moon, but which now is usually taken to mean the night of mid-autumn moon viewing. The custom of having formal events on the night of the 15th in the 8th month was introduced to Japan from China, though as it spread throughout the land it was JAPANIZED, in that the offerings made to the moon also included TARO (yama imo), and other native Japanese species. However, what really came to make Japanese O-Tsukimi distinctly different from what happens in China is the fact that in Japan, proper moon-viewing could not be completed on JUST ONE NIGHT (the 15th night of the 8th month). This was called KATAMI-TSUKI (片見月), and was considered to be highly inauspicious.
To do TSUKI-MI the right way in Japan, one had to also set offerings to, and then admire the moon approximately one month later, in the 9th month.This time it was not the full moon of the 15th night which received special attention, but the moon of the 13th night (JU-SANYA 十三夜), which is very large , but NOT QUITE FULL (see the chart above). It is said that this IMPERFECT moon, appeals more strongly to Japanese (as oppossed to Chinese) aesthetic sensibilities.
Tonight, the night of October 30th 2009, just happens to be the 13th night of the 9th month according t the old calendar, and thus across the country, many families will be preparing special foods and decorations for tonight`s TSUKIMI.In particular soy beans and chestnuts are important for tonight. In fact, nicknames for JU-SANYA are MAME MEIGETSU (豆名月ー BEAN-MOON) and KURI-MEIGETSU (栗名月ーCHESTNUT-MOON).
Whenever I hear the expression JU-SANYA, the short story of the name name by HIGUCHI ICHIYO ( of 5000 yen bill fame). It is her tale of a woman, who by marriage to a man of higher status can give security and pride to her parents and also give birth to a son she adores- yet REMAINS MISERABLE because of the way her husband treats her, that I came to understand the symbolism and significance of the 13th night moon.
It is on that night that she secretly escapes from her home intending to leave her husband and son forever and return to her parents house. In the end they convince her to return to husband and endure her unhappiness for the sake of her husand, on and themselves.
At first I could NOT understand why HIGUCHI ICHIYO connected this womans situation with the moon ofthe 13th night, but then it hit me- NOTHING IS PERFECT and YOU CANT HAVE EVERYTHING. Tonight`s moon is a symbol of the imposibility of perfection- especially human happiness.
Still looking at the beautiful moon on a fragrant autumn night can fill us ( for a fleeting moment) with a sense of awe and wonder. Go on out tonight and have good long look.
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Time For a Change- Mt Tsukuba`s Onzagawari Ritual on November ( and April) 1st (revisited)
At 877 meters it is not very high or majestic. But for those of us who live on the vast (by Japanese standards, of course!) plain to its south, the slightly crushed M figure of Mt Tsukuba is like a trusty old friend, always reassuring us of where we are and helping us get our bearings when we are lost. Its forested slopes put Japan’s seasons on display while on the flatlands below the greenery has been disappearing at a frightening pace and snow accumulation has become a most rare occurrence.
For the Japanese, Mt Tsukuba has also been a sacred mountain since time immemorial. Its peaks are where the ancestral Gods of Japan, Izanagi and Izanami, are enshrined. The mountain has attracted many holy men over the years and during the Edo Period (1600-1867) a temple was built half-way up its southern slope to protect Edo castle from the unlucky North-Eastern quadrant, and this temple, then Chuzen-Ji, was generously endowed and supported by Japan’s long-ruling clan, the Tokugawa.
In 1868 Japan underwent revolutionary reforms and the Emperor was restored (again?) to supreme power (in name only, most say). The Meiji government also carried out a probably ill-advised policy (though not as ill-advised as some other policies set in those days!) of separating Buddhism (a foreign import) from the pure, native belief which came to be called Shinto. Thus Chuzen-Ji is now Mt Tsukuba Shrine, popular as a place to pray for marital happiness.
The priests of this shrine, together with the assistance of local residents, continue to perform the most important of the mountain’s ancient rituals: Onzagawari (御座替り） which can also be pronounced Ozagawari. This ceremony takes place twice a year, on April and November 1.
The ceremony at first appears to be a typical Japanese Mountain God festival in which the deities are brought down to the fields in spring to bring abundant harvests, and are then escorted back up to their mountain abodes for the winter.
Mt Tsukuba’s spring and autumn rituals seem at first glance to be of this pattern, but there is a twist. Since the ancestral couple are enshrined on its peaks and the shrine half-way up the mountain is dedicated to family harmony, instead of focusing on agriculture the Onzagawari emphasizes love and protection of children.
Lat April 1st, despite vicious winds, a small omikoshi (portable shrine) carried the child god up the mountain, where it is cool and high above the sweltering lowlands and the parent gods were carried down to the center of the mountain. The positions of the parents and child will switch back again in autumn (this coming Sunday Nov. 1st).
The ceremony began early in the morning and continued till late afternoon as carriers bore the omikoshis up and down the mountain (they used the cable car for some of the way!), battling the ferocious and unrelenting gusts.
Maybe the most special thing that a visitor can do on these ceremony days is to cross the sacred bridge (a red, wooden, covered bridge of rare design) which is only open on the first day of April and November.
Hope to see you there on Sunday.
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David Sanborn Group Performance at Tsukuba Capio
David Sanborn Group Performance at Tsukuba Capio
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009.
Doors open at 18:30, performances start at 19:00
VOLVOX, a Tsukuba-based company has been bringing world renowned performers to Tsukuba. You may have heard about the sold out Fourplay Japan Tour or Lee Ritenour Group performances at Tsukuba Capio. This time, VOLBOX will bring David Sanborn Group to Tsukuba!
Tickets:
8,500 yen advance (tax included)
9,000 yen same day (tax included)
* Preschool-age children will not be allowed entry.*
Ticket Offices:
- Tsukuba Capio Hall
- Music Plant Stores in Tsukuba and Tsuchiura
- Ticket Pia
- E-Plus
- Or you can purchase tickets online from VOLVOX website:
http://www.vol-vox.net/ticket.html (available only in Japanese)
Inquiries:
Call VOLVOX at 029-851-2762
Or visit: http://www.vol-vox.net/
David Sanborn (sax): http://www.davidsanborn.com/
Ricky Peterson (key): http://www.rickyp.com/index.html
Nicky Moroch (g): http://www.nickymoroch.com/
Richard Patterson (b), Gene Lake (ds): http://genelake.com/go/
This article is from the October issue of the Alien Times. Please also see the September issue for reference.
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TABS Boarding Schools Fair in Tokyo
TABS (The Association of Boarding Schools) Asia Boarding Schools Fairs will kick off in Tokyo this weekend. You can see the list of participating schools here.
TABS Asia Boarding Schools Fair, Tokyo
Date: Sunday, October 25
Time: 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Venue: ANA InterContinental Hotel
The next TABS TABS Asia Boarding Schools Fair will be held in Seoul, Korea on Oct. 27. For the precise details of this fair in Tokyo and fairs in other Asian countries, click here, or visit TABS website: http://www.boardingschools.com/
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Tsukuba Science Information Center Now Open on Weekends
We mentioned in the May issue of the Alien Times that the Tsukuba Information Center reopened as the Tsukuba Science Information Center in April. However, it was open only on weekdays. Well, this week, the City has announced that the Tsukuba Science Information Center is now open on weekends! It will be closed on Mondays and National holidays and during the year-end and New Year holidays instead.
Ref.: http://www.city.tsukuba.ibaraki.jp/13/885/005953.html
Tsukuba Science Information Center
Azuma 1-10-1, Tsukuba City
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00,
Closed: Mondays, National Holidays and the year-end and New Year holidays
Phone: 029-852-6789 (Office of Tsukuba City Policy Council)
Ref.: From the May issue of the Alien Times
The place that we all know as “the Information Center” has been closed for a while, but it has restarted its operation as the “Tsukuba Science Information Center” in April…, tentatively.
Tsukuba Science Information Center provides the kind of service and information the “Information Center” used to offer, such as the information area where visitors come and pick up brochures and newsletters. The Tsukuba Science City-related exhibit also continues.
They are currently open only from 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday thru Friday. I know their new hours are very inconvenient if you work during the day, but hours may change sometime since everything is “tentative.” Even the new name for the facility is tentative!
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