A Comparison of "Clear Moon" and "Cloud Covered Moon" on the Thirteenth Night in October

As I wrote on the 27th of September, traditionally people in Japan enjoy watching the Moon on the 13th night of the lunar cycle as well as a full Moon(on the 15th night of the lunar cycle) in fall. The 13th night was on the October 25th this year, 2015, though it wasn't featured as much as the 15th-Night-Moon. Probably viewing the 13th-Night-Moon became less common Nowadays. The weather was fine on the 25th, so a clear almost-round-Moon was beautiful in the early evening though some clouds came out later the night.

Centuries ago, a tea-ceremony master apparently stated "I don't enjoy viewing the Moon except when it is covered by clouds." A famous Japanese author in the 14th century, Kenko Yoshida, also said that a crescent Moon or cloud-covered Moon has a beauty you feel in your heart,  in addition to the visual beauty. Probably that started the idea which is now called "A sense of beauty with incompleteness".

Both photos above are taken from the same spot on the same day. The left hand side photo shows a very clear Moon, but some people may prefer the other photo showing the Moon covered by some cloud since it can evokes your emotion the same way it did centuries ago...
 
Well, which one do you think is more beautiful? The "clear full moon" or the "cloud-covered moon"?

Colored Leaves Season Has Just Started in Tokyo Area

Beautiful fall season has started in Tokyo area. Lots of leaves are turning red, orange or yellow, and now we can see the gradual change from green to the fall color.

As I mentioned several times previously, Japanese always love seasonal things. The same way people go out for "Hanami (Seasonal Flowers Viewing)", people rush to see beautiful colored leaves in this season. 

However, we don't use the word "Viewing" for the colored leaves in fall. Somehow we use "Hunting" for the colored leaves, such as "Let's go to Momiji-Gari (Colored Leaves Hunting) this weekend!"

Perhaps it is the gentlest hunt, people hunt beautiful leaves with their eyes or cameras. 

The photo was taken in Tama-City, Tokyo.

A Samurai Parade, "Houjo Ujiteru Festival" in Hachioji

On October 18th, the Houjo Ujiteru Festival was held in Hachioji City, Tokyo. It featured a Samurai parade and demonstrations of Japanese Samurai sword and Samurai conch horns, which were used as a cue for Samurai war in the Middle Ages.

Houjo Ujiteru is one of the historical Samurai lords of the late 15th century. He was the third son of Houjo head-family in Sagami-area, which is now Kanagawa Prefecture, and Ujiteru was entrusted with the defence of the east side of their territory, which is now Hachioji City.

His oldest brother suffered an early death and the second oldest brother took over the family's main castle, Odawara Castle. His two younger brothers protected the north and the south part of their territory. Apparently the family was united strongly against their enemies until his castle, Hachioji Castle, was conquered in 1590 and the whole Houjo family was overthrown with the fall of their main castle, Odawara Castle, in the same year.

Thus for this festival, a group of people from each area that his brothers protected join the parade to unite with Hachioji people. There were people from Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture. It was nice to see that the strength of family bond in the Middle Ages helped to connect people from different prefectures hundreds of years later.

Photos of Another Taste Of Fall, Chestnuts(Kuri) and Chestnut Rice

Chestnut (Kuri) is also a popular seasonal food in the fall. Probably one of the most common and popular Japanese home cooking for chestnuts would be “Chestnut Rice (Kuri-Gohan)”. It is a very simple dish. People just cook rice with a pinch of salt and lots of chestnuts which are peeled and  the astringent coat removed as in the right hand side photo, and enjoy the natural taste and flavor of chestnuts.

The English word “Chestnuts” is not commonly used in Japan although Japanese use many English words as daily words and English classes are compulsory in Japanese schools. However, misunderstanding the French word for chestnut “Marron”, as an English word. “Marron” is used widely in Japan.

Japan has been importing so many words from various foreign countries, and people use them without recognizing the origin. Sometimes people simply assume it must be an English word but in fact it isn’t.
This may be do to the fact that the French sweets “Marron Glaces” became too famous in Japan.

A Photo of Mt.Fuji Under The Fall Sky At Sunset

In Japanese this kind of cirrus cloud which has a fibroid structure is called “Ken-Un”. It means “Silk-Cloud” and it is considered as a typical cloud in fall. During summer, gigantic column of clouds at lower altitude are often seen in Japan, so when people see this “Ken-Un” at higher altitude they would say “Oh, it’s fall now!”

The photo was taken in the west side of Tokyo.

A Photo Of A Beautiful Insect, Tamamushi (Buprestid Beetle)

Summer is the season that many of bugs become active. Until 20-30 years ago "bug hunting" had been a major kids' play in Japan, especially among boys. During summer vacations, kids were running around chasing bugs with insect nets and were proud of themselves if they catch big beetles or beautiful insects such as Japanese rhinoceros beetles (Kabuto-mushi), stag beetles (Kuwagata mushi), or big dragonflies (Yanma).

The bug in the photo above is called “Tamamushi” in Japanese and it means “Jewel Beetle”. Because of its beautiful metallic color. In fact it was used for decorations in anciant times it was used for decoration in ancient times. When I was little it still was one of the popular bugs and I would be showing it off to my friends if I could catch one.

Now the "bug hunting" is only a minor activity for kids, especially these popular insects are in decline in big cities, such as the center of Tokyo. So, city kids have to buy insects when they want to have them and nowadays the aforesaid popular insects are available at pet shops. However, in West Tokyo area, kids can still enjoy catching bugs since enough wildness is remaining there.

Being intimate with bugs may be a part of the Japanese culture, but how about trying it out?

A Photo of The Chronological Change Of Mt. Fuji's Appearance from April to July

Today, July 1st , finally the climbing season for Mt. Fuji started! It is called “Yama-biraki Day(Mountain-Opening Day) .

This year, the news told that safety goods were equipped at mountain huts there and the evacuation map is being made for the first time ever. It might sound strange since it is one of the most famous volcanoes in Japan, but the last eruption was in 1707. Mt. Fuji has been dormant for more than 300years, so Japanese people almost forgot the fact it is a non-dead volcano, and hadn’t really thought of the eruption. However people started to think about the possibility in these days since some volcanoes became active recently and a couple of them erupted all of sudden.

The photos are taken from the west side of Tokyo. Although it looks very beautiful, when you go close to climb the mountain you will see the upper place of it is covered by volcanic sand and rocks and has no plants. After all it is really a volcano and the outline is so sharply showing the beautiful symmetry shape with the flat top which is a huge crater from distance like in the photo below.