Oct 3rd is the mid-autumn full moon (CHU-SHU NO MEIGETSU)
There is the custom to view the moon when the moon is beautiful at night in 
The first picture was taken at a plain near my house.
The plant in the photograph forward is the Japanese plume grass.（SUSUKI）
When at the mid-autumn full moon, we mow and bring them home to decollate with offerings.
I went to mow the Japanese plume grass with my children.
They are so pleased with such things.
Why is the Japanese plume grass in many kinds of the weed?
Why do I decollate the Japanese plume grass viewing the moon?
It seemed to have been interesting for my children that I have been preparing one after another like a secret party.
Why is the Japanese plume grass?
I will teach you.
It is the story heard from an expert on the plant.
Once upon a time, really old times. When the rice farming has not been spread to
Japanese mainly ate some kinds of potatoes; a taro, a Japanese yam.
They found the taro by digging up the ground.
But the land gradually gets wasteland, when having continued for hundreds of years.
People combed ears of the Japanese plume grass down to ground and scattered the seed.
Starting with the Japanese plume grass, various weeds grew, and it returned to the rich land from the wasteland.
It is because the Japanese plume grass is a plant with vigorous vitality.
They hoped the great harvest a few years later.
They shook ears of the Japanese plume grass with hoping so.
And the taro was about to ripen at just the mid-autumn full moon.
Do you understand their feeling to offer to the moon as source of the life?
This is the taro.
Eat after boiled with its skin on.
The skin peeled easily.
The taro's oral sensation is stickily and it smelled the soil.
The offering to the moon has been changed in long history.
The rice farming began, they offered some round dumplings.
But its shape and decollation style resemble the taro.
Besides, today some people prefer the Japanese-style confection than the round dumpling.
This shape of the Japanese-style confection is a white rabbit.(USAGI)
(Question: Why is a rabbit?)
By the way, we started viewing the moon after the supper(BANGOHAN) at night.
I offered the Japanese plume grass and some round dumplings that the moon can see those.
At the Heian period (a thousand years ago), it was the pleasure for elegance(FU-RYU NA ) adult that they composed the Tanka viewing the moon.
After all, my children asked me to eat round dumplings.
They could not concentrate to do.
Viewing the moon was end at once.
The answer: It is said the surface of the moon seems pattern of a rabbit.
Therefore, it is a rabbit as for the moon.
What does it seem in your country?
Hi Miko! Thanx for the blog. It was always interesting for me to know smth about ordinary life in Japan. I'm from Russia and from here it seems that you (Japanese) even think in absolutely different way
Here, in Belarus, we see a face on the Moon. And this is possibly the face of one of the Bible brothers. We have a legend. One man killed his brother. While he was running, the Moon was following him and he could see the scene of murder on the surface of the Moon.