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The moon has many
faces, and there is a word for each!
The new or crescent moon is 新月,
or 三日月.
The half moon is 半月,
and the full moon is 満月
or 名月. 十五夜
is the 15th night
of the lunar month when the moon is full, so 十五夜の月
also refers to the
full moon. On the night of 中秋
の名月, the
harvest moon, (the closest full moon to 秋分,
the autumn equinox) many Japanese follow the custom of
(お) 月見,
moon viewing. |
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According to the
original story, when かぐやひめ returned
to the Palace of the Moon, she left behind a letter and an elixir
of life (不死の薬)
for the emperor
(帝) who
had been her suitor. But he was loath to prolong his life without
her, and had both items burned on the mountaintop nearest heaven,
Mt Fuji. There is a theory that the word 不死
came to be written
富士,
and this is how 富士山
got its name. |
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竹林 |
bamboo
grove |
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竹 の子 |
bamboo shoot
(also written 筍) |
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竹馬 |
stilts |
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竹馬の友 |
a childhood
friend |
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竹を割ったような性格 |
straightforward,
frank person |
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竹のようにまっすぐ育つ |
to bring up
(a child) to be honest and true |
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 The
kanji 竹 たけ is
clearly a pictograph of bamboo, and as a component it lends
this meaning to other kanji, eg. 笹,
bamboo leaf, 筆
brush, 笛,
flute, and 箱,
box.
The kanji 月
comes from a picture
of a crescent moon, and it also hints at this meaning as a component
in other kanji, usually on the right, eg. 明るい,
bright, 朝,
morning, and 期in
compound words like 時期
, time. There are
many words which have the component 月
on the left-hand
side, but in these kanji the component is usually a variant
form of the kanji 肉,
meaning 'meat'. It is found in many words related to the body,
eg. 肌,
skin, お腹,
stomach and 脂肪,
fat. |
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 The
full moon is considered to be at its most beautiful
on August 15 in the lunar calendar (present-day
mid-September). On this night, called 十五夜
, the
Japanese celebrate by organising moon-viewing parties
at a spot suitable for admiring the moon, preferably
near a river or pond. At this time, homes may be
decorated with 月見団子(rice
dumplings), すすき(pampas
grass), and autumn fruit such as 栗(chestnut),
梨(pear)
and 里芋(taro).
If you don't have these decorations to hand, you
can even buy an お月見セット!
The custom
of moon viewing on 十五夜was
introduced from China. Also introduced from China
is the story of the rabbit in the moon. According
to the Chinese story, there is a rabbit living in
the moon who produces elixir of life pills. However,
in the Japanese variation, the rabbit spends his
days pounding rice for もち(rice
cakes). The alteration may have come about through
a pun: previously the full moon was referred to
as もちつき(望月,
now pronounced もちづき)
but there is a word with the same pronunciation,
餅つきwhich
means 'pounding rice'.
Words
relating the moon to food do not end there;
そば and
うどんdishes
containing an egg are called 月見そば
and
月見うどん
respectively. |
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This
section written by Cathy Jonak |
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Privacy
& Copyright © The Japan Foundation, Sydney - Language
Section 2000 - 2005 |
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