Jūsanya -- Non-Full Moon Viewing 🌕 (Patreon)

You have to be quick! I thought this year's Jūsanya (Thirteenth Night) was later in the week. It's actually ** checks watch ** NOW (most likely) where you are. It was last night here. This year's Jūsan-ya = November 2nd's moon.

Let me explain. Jūsan-ya or Thirteenth Night refers to the "thirteenth night of the ninth lunar moon". Figuring out lunar dates is always tricky, and it's why I screwed up and thought it was this Wednesday. But it's not. It's the night of November 2nd.

Jūsan-ya is awesome because it celebrates viewing a non-full moon. Non full, but almost! You're to go out and gaze up and appreciate the imperfection of that gorgeous moon. Note: A full moon celebration would be called Jūgo-ya. The Fifteenth Night and that celebration happens about a month before the jūsan-ya and is usually just called Moon Viewing.

This Jūsan-ya is also sometime called the Kuri-meigetsu or Chestnut Moon.

The interesting thing about Jūsan-ya is that unlike the full moon appreciating (which came originally from China), this one is distinctly a Japanese tradition. The not-quite full moon. You just got to love that. Finding beauty in imperfection and reflecting on that. Don' t always try and go after perfection, but love and be grateful for what is imperfect, too.

In Japan, you'll find supermarkets and sweet shops selling all kinds of cakes and dango to eat while vibing on the moon. Here are some I bought yesterday, still thinking I was going to enjoy them on the veranda or at the beach tomorrow.

Oh, also, in Japan it's no a "man" that is seen on the moon but a BUNNY!

This one had red bean paste inside.

Then there are the traditional moon cakes called geppei.

These are from China and I fell in love with them back in high school when I was taking Chinese (outside of school) and my teacher made homemade ones. I loved the ones filled with all sorts of nuts and honey. This one was anko (red bean paste) and nuts.

Another bunny!

This little fellow was chestnut and white bean paste. A little sweet.

And of course, the traditional stacked sticky rice cakes. I am so full right now. Ergh. Can't even touch these guys yet.

And, no, you're not supposed to buy ALL the moon cakes in the store and eat them...all. They were just so cute and I planned on spreading out the delicacies. But then got bummed I'd missed the day.

But you know what !! , even if we miss the actual Jūsan-ya, I guess it's all okay, because if the moon was non-full yesterday (my time, the real jūsan-ya), it's still non-full tonight, so I can in effect appreciate that imperfection in quiet contemplation tonight. too! And you can, too!

Or when it's full or waning. Really, I don't think we need a special day to appreciate the moon.

Stay safe and well, XOXO,

terrie

Note: Jūsan-Ya is also the name of a traditional comb-making company that's been around since 1875.