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A name which is used to describe an object or state is a barometer of how important it is to a people and the development of their culture.
In that sense, the fact that there are more than 30 words to describe the various phases of the moon in Japan, demonstrates that its existence is indispensable in the context of Japanese culture. It is intriguing that many lifestyles and customs relating to the moon revolved around the lunar calendar are still exercised in today's Japan.
In Japanese the word for the full moon is "Man-getsu" and the particular full moon in August, following the old calendar, is known as the harvest moon called "Jugoya" (lit. the fifteenth night). Even now when this moon is full, people practice the custom of giving offerings to Jugoya in thanks for a bountiful seasonal harvest.
If one year's "Jugoya" is veiled by rain, Japanese call that moon, sentimentally, "Uzuki" (lit. the moon of rain). The humble new moon that shows itself after the full moon is called "Izayoi" (lit. the sixteenth night). The conversational word "Izayou" meaning "to hesitate" has no doubt evolved from this demure phase of the moon.
The moon that rests in the sky at dawn is called "Nagori-zuki" (lit. remains of the moon). Its soft vision as the new day begins leaves you longing for its brightness in the night sky stimulating a feeling of melancholy.
The night sky also brings us the tantalizing "Nemachi-zuki", the moon that appears late in our slumbering hours.
"While waiting for you to come I began to doze as the Nemachi-zuki slowly moved through the night sky."
This poem was recorded in the "Kokinwakashu" (Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) more than one thousand years ago. Romantically and incredulously it is still the same moon we see today.
In an old Japanese folklore even older than the Kokinwakashu, there is a story about a moon maiden. The "Taketori Monogatari" (the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) tells the tale of a beautiful princess who comes down to the earth from the moon. A poor bamboo cutter discovers a little baby girl in a moon-lit bamboo stem and together, with his wife, looks after the girl with loving care. She rapidly grows up into a beautiful woman attracting many suitors, but one day a stately carriage arrives to take her back to the moon.
Man, woman and the night moon...the moon is deeply imbedded in Japanese senses. |
