Photo/Illutration A full moon shines in the autumn sky. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

I was living in an apartment complex when my mother sent me out one day to pick some “susuki” (Japanese pampas grass).

As the complex was in a suburb in the sticks that had been developed by clearing a hilly area and was a 20-minute bus ride from the nearest train station, I could easily find susuki that was growing in the wild.

That evening, my mother arranged the bundle of susuki in a vase, and we enjoyed a modest “tsukimi” moon-viewing party on our tiny balcony.

As I was still too young to appreciate the moon, to me the event was just a fun evening picnic. I have no recollection of how the sky looked, even though that was the only tsukimi I ever had with my mother.

I am now way past the age my mother was at the time. In hindsight, I wonder if she was so exhausted from raising me that she wanted to take a break, even for just one night, to enjoy the moon in peace.

The 21st passage of “Tsurezuregusa” (Essays in Idleness) by Yoshida Kenko (c.1283-c.1350) goes to the effect, “Looking at the moon calms all complex feelings.”

I believe that the sort of moon that one can bare one’s soul to, as if to a true friend, must be an autumn moon.

Tonight is the mid-autumn harvest moon.

The moon’s clear brilliance has a strange power. It makes happy memories happier and takes some sting out of painful memories.

That’s why even though tsukimi has been replaced by Halloween as the main autumn event in Japan, people’s love affair with the moon will never die.

Because of the unwelcome autumn rain front, the moon may be hidden behind clouds from time to time in some regions tonight. But no matter.

The 137th passage of “Tsurezuregusa” preaches that true appreciation of beauty does not necessarily come only from flowers in full bloom and a dazzling full moon.

A haiku by Tomiro Yamada goes to the effect, “Drinking sake alone/ A cloud hides the harvest moon.”

Sipping sake instead of snacking on the traditional “dango” dumplings, I’d be terribly lucky if the moon’s silver gleam were to be reflected on my sake cup.

But even if that does not happen, I may succeed in coming up with a haiku of my own.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 17

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.