Post by Hatsuharu Souma on Jul 12, 2005 21:23:44 GMT -5
Respect-for-the-Aged Day
September 15 is a national holiday called Keiro no Hi, or Respect-for-the-Aged Day. When it was first named a day for elderly citizens in 1951 it was called Toshiyori no Hi, or old people's day. It was designated a national holiday in 1966, and its name was also changed.
Keiro no Hi is a day when one shows respect to long-time contributors to society, celebrates their longevity, prays for their health, gains greater awareness and understanding of welfare issues confronting the elderly, and thinks about how welfare services can be improved.
Because Respect-for-the-Aged Day is a relatively new holiday, there are no customs particularly associated with this day. Usually, though, cultural programs and athletic events spotlighting the elderly are held in the community. In some elementary schools, kids draw pictures or make simple handicraft items to present to their grandparents or residents of nursing homes.
Autumnal Moonlight Viewing
There is an old custom of celebrating the full moon on the fifteenth day of the eighth month on the traditional Japanese calendar. It's a very poetic and elegant practice, with people placing ornaments and offerings next to windows, on verandas, and in other places where one can see the moon. Vases are filled with pampas grass and autumnal herbs, and seasonal foods like dumplings, pears, persimmons, and grapes are placed on dishes.
Autumn consisted of the seventh, eighth, and ninth months of the year on the old Japanese calendar. The full moon in the middle autumnal month, called chushu no meigetsu, was considered particularly beautiful, as the air became crisper and the heat of summer subsided.
Traditional decorations and offerings.
The traditional Japanese calendar and the modern one used by countries around the world today are off by about a month. Thus chushu no meigetsu this year falls on September 12. The full moon, though, will actually appear on September 14; it's not unusual for chushu no meigetsu to be a day or two off from the day of the full moon.
The practice of celebrating the full moon came from China during the Heian period (794-1185). Records show that chushu no meigetsu was marked with poetry and music by court aristocrats as early as 909.
In the Edo period (1603-1868) the practice of enjoying the beautiful rays of the moon spread to warriors and townspeople. Farmers also incorporated viewing the full autumn moon into agricultural rites. For instance, taro roots (sato imo) were prepared as offerings, and moon-viewing doubled as a harvest festival. This became so widespread that the full moon in mid-fall also came to be known as imo meigetsu.
Eating dumplings - made from rice pounded into paste and shaped into spheres like the moon - made people feel like they were sharing a meal with the lunar god.
There used to be a custom forgiving anyone who stole the dumplings and fruits offered during moon-viewing. When the offerings were taken by children, they weren't scolded. Instead, adults said they were glad the gods liked the food so much to partake of them. This tradition is disappearing today, but the offered foods are still a treat for kids when the moon-viewing is over.
Yabusame at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine
Every year from September 14 to 16, a grand festival is held at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura, 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The highlight comes on the final day, when a yabusame (mounted archery) ceremony is held. The ritual is a page right out of history, and is a symbol of this ancient city.
In the yabusame ceremony, archers on horseback shoot at three wooden targets about 50 centimeters (20 inches) square and 1 centimeter (3/8 inch) thick while speeding along at full gallop. The targets are placed around 70 meters (77 yards) apart, so the riders must draw arrows in quick succession if they want to hit all three. Each time an arrow makes a hit, a big roar goes up from the crowd, followed by applause. Sometimes the shots cause the target to shatter, making a big cracking noise.
A mounted archer aims for the target.
Autumnal Equinox Day
September 23 or 24 is Autumnal Equinox Day, a national holiday. It's a day not just to mark the changing of seasons but also to pay our respects to our deceased parents, grandparents, and other family members.
The months of September, October, November are usually considered the autumn months, but technically speaking, fall is the period between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.
The autumnal equinox is the day when the sun crosses the equator from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. By the modern Gregorian calendar, this date usually falls on September 23 or 24. On this day, the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west, and day and night become the same length. From this day on, days begin getting shorter than nights in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Japanese have traditionally called the period around the autumnal and vernal (springtime) equinoxes higan. There's a saying that goes, "both the heat and cold end with higan." Higan lasts for seven days - beginning three days prior to the equinox and ending three days after it. It occurs twice a year, once when the blustery winter temperatures give way to spring and again when the heat subsides and the cool, crisp air of autumn arrives.
Higan has Buddhist origins. It means the "other side of the river of death." This side of the river is the world where we live, and the other side is the realm where the souls of those who have passed away dwell. To pray for the repose of deceased ancestors, visits are made to the family grave.
Bon in August (July in some regions) is a time when the souls of our ancestors come to visit us. On higan, it's our turn to visit them. Visiting the family grave usually means cleaning the tombstone, offering flowers and food, burning incense sticks, and praying. A popular offering is ohagi, made with glutinous rice covered with adzuki-bean paste or soybean flour. As higan approaches, confectioners become very busy trying to meet the expected demand for ohagi.
Nihyaku Toka
A day that rice farmers await nervously in late summer each year is nihyaku toka, which signals the start of the typhoon season. Literally meaning 210 days, it falls on the 210th day after risshun, the beginning of spring on the traditional Japanese calendar. Heavy rainfall and strong winds can wipe out the year's crop if they come before the autumn harvest. Risshun usually falls around February 4, and so nihyaku toka is around September 1.
Nihyaku toka was formally added to the Japanese calendar in 1686 by astronomer Harumi Shibukawa (1639-1715), who was commissioned by the government to revise the official calendar. Waking up one sunny morning, Shibukawa decided to go fishing. But as he was about to set out to sea, the old boatman he had hired warned him that it was the 210th day from risshun. "There's an old saying that the weather always turns stormy on this day." Just as the boatman had cautioned, the morning's clear skies gave way to a thunderstorm by afternoon. Since then, Shibukawa noticed that the few days around nihyaku toka were always stormy, prompting him to mark the 210th day from risshun as an unlucky day on his calendar.