Autumn Nights in Japan: Otsukimi and Juya-E

In the old Chinese lunar calendar, on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month (i.e. full moon on the 8th month), many cultures across East Asia celebrate something called the Mid-Autumn Festival. This has various names depending on the country and language:

Zhōng-qiū-jié (中秋節) in Mandarin Chinese,
- Tiong-chhiu-cheh in Hokkien, by the way
Tết Trung Thu in Vietnam, and
Chuseok (추석) in Korea

In Japan, this festival is called formally the Jūgoya (十五夜, “15th night”) festival, but in popular culture is known as Otsukimi (お月見, “moon viewing”). This year, due to the lunar calendar, Otsukimi falls somewhat late on October 6th. This festival is about viewing the moon with friends and family, while enjoying some dango (rice dumplings) using displays like so:

A stack of *dango* treats, photo by evan p. cordes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

According to this excellent book on Japanese culture, people also decorate such displays with pampas grass (susuki, ススキ), edamamé beans and taro potatoes. Unlike cherry-blossom viewing, people do not usually get drunk.

Chinese moon cakes, called geppei (月餅) in Japanese, are sometimes eaten as well, though it’s more of an exotic treat. Here, moon cakes are easy to obtain, and quite delicious. Highly recommend. We also get the Korean version of dango (tteok, 떡) too.

In any case, Otsukimi is about relaxing, enjoying the autumn vibes with the ones you love. As my family and I live in the Pacific Northwest, weather here isn’t reliable, and so we often get stuck with cloudy weather. But the image of Otsukimi is still popular. You can even find an emoji for it: 🎑.

Also, fun fact: there are traditionally two days of moon-viewing in Japan. The main one is Jūgoya (十五夜, “15th night”), but traditionally there is also a Jūsanya (十三夜, “13th night”) viewing on the 13th night of the ninth (not eighth) lunar month. This year, 13th night falls on November 2nd. On the 13th night of the lunar month, people enjoy chestnuts instead. Traditionally, people felt you should view the moon on both nights, otherwise, according to my book, you only did katamitsuki (片見月, “one-sided viewing”), which wasn’t ideal.

By the way, there is one other tradition around this time that’s specifically Buddhist: Juya-é (十夜会, “ten nights ceremony”), which is ten nights of observance of Pure Land Buddhist practice, starting from October 5th to 14th in the Western calendar. I usually try to recite the nembutsu a full 1080 times using my old Jodo Shu rosary for ten nights. Easier said than done as a parent, but it’s nice to have a challenge from time to time. Traditionally, people try to attend temple services if possible, or just focus on good behavior.

Anyhow, wishing you all a fun Otsukimi, Mid-Autumn Festival, or Juya-e, etc., or all of the above!

Healthy Living: Eating Like A Monk

McCoy: “It might eventually cure the common cold, but lengthen lives? Poppycock. I can do more for you if you just eat right and exercise regularly”
Star Trek, “The Omega Glory” (s2ep23), Stardate unknown

Healthy eating is not difficult, at least in theory.

Of course if it were that easy, how come many of us are overweight? Myself included.

I talked about this recently, but I do not have very good self-control. I work a desk job, so I don’t move around much, and I snack a lot. I don’t eat particularly unhealthy: no alcohol, no soft drinks, etc., and I eat minimal red meat. But I tend to just eat too much junk food, or too many portions.

Recently, I dug out an old book of mine from many, many years ago,¹ titled What Is Zen? 禅ってなんだろう. It’s a bilingual book I bought in Japan that explores Rinzai Zen life as a monk, but also includes some general thoughts about the tradition for lay followers. My copy has been covered in stickers when my daughter was a little girl, so I kept it both for nostalgia, and because such down-to-earth books on Zen are hard to find in the West.

This is what happens when little girls get a hold of daddy’s books… 😅

Anyhow, this book shows things like daily routines for monks, how they eat and so on. I wish I could repost the photographs because they’re really neat, but obviously that’s inappropriate. Instead, let me shiw you a different example:

An example of *shōjin-ryōri* (monastic food) at Tenryuji temple in Kyoto, Japan. Photo by 663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This photo, shows a meal served at Tenryuji Temple, which I coincidentally visited last year. This kind of monastic food is called shōjin-ryōri (精進料理, “ascetic food”) in Japanese, but is a common part of Buddhist cuisine across East Asia. It’s not limited to monks and nuns only, devout lay followers can eat such a lifestyle if they wish. The photos from my book show that the monastic version of this meal is somewhat simpler in presentation (they are monks after all), but essentially the same.

Similarly, when we visited Ryoanji Temple (another Rinzai temple) waaay back in 2005, we enjoyed their version of tofu stew:

Taken by me in 2005, at Ryoanji Temple. This is a vegetarian tofu stew, with turnips artfully sculpted to look like lotus flowers.

This kind of diet is similar to a vegan diet in that it contains no animal products, even the dashi broth is vegetarian. Certain flavors like curry and onions are not used either.

But as with any diet changes, this is not something that should be done hastily or without consulting a physician. The key I wanted to convey here is that (partly as a reminder to myself when I read this six months later….) is that a healthy diet consists of the following:

More vegetables than protein
Minimal processed starches
Little or no animal protein
Small portions per meal²
Little or no snacking.

But I’ve been inspired by these examples of good Buddhist eating, and so I have been gradually trying to “eat like a monk” lately: smaller portions, avoiding or minimizing animal protein, limit starches, and eating more veggies.

Will it work for a Western desk-jockey like myself? We’ll see.

¹ I mentioned this book on my old blog, that’s how long I’ve owned it.

² My doctor had previous suggested intermittent fasting as a potential solution, or alternatively eating four small meals per day, instead of three big ones. Say, portions the size of two-three fists. The issue hasn’t been the diet, but my lack of diligence especially during the holidays. So, that may be the bigger issue.

Culture, Religion, and Curry

A long time ago, my wife and I watched this TED Talk in Japanese about religion and how Japanese culture approaches it:

The TED Talk is entirely in Japanese, with no subtitles, so unfortunately most folks here won’t be able to easily follow it. Which is a shame because it’s quite good. I had a saved in my personal playlist, and rewatched it recently. There a couple points in particular that I wanted to tease out:

The priest in question, Matsuyama Daiko, was raised in a “priest family” in Japan (e.g. Buddhist priest),¹ but attended a Catholic school growing up. This is not unusual. My sister-in-law also attended a Catholic school in Japan, we have good friends who are a Buddhist priest family. Matsuyama makes the point that Japan approaches religion the way it approaches dinner: in the West we tend to feature a main dish, and maybe a few smaller side dishes (or none). In Japan, food is usually not served with a main dish, but several dishes that are more or less same quantity.

An example of a traditional meal in Japanese cuisine. Photo by cyclonebill from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the same way, while Matsuyama is an ordained Buddhist priest, he grew up with a wide exposure to other religions but sampled many dishes. It’s not unusual for a Japanese person to do Buddhist stuff, but also visit Shinto shrines during Hatsumode, get married in a Christian chapel, etc. Hence, like many dishes, Japanese tend to sample many traditions, and respect them all. People have their personal inclinations (or none at all), but they are not forced to choose following A versus following B. I don’t want to oversell this too much, but it is a practical approach to religion and one you’ll find not just in Japan, but other Asian cultures as well.

The second point that Matsuyama makes that I thought was interesting was the idea of variation even within the same religion. Matsuyama talked about how Buddhists in Theravada countries might look at Japanese Buddhism (Mahayana), and be confused by some of its practices, and vice-versa. So, he used the example of curry. Curry is a food that is found across all of Asia, but there’s an incredible amount of local variety. I LOVE curry. I eat any kind of curry, and love the sheer variety.

Different curry dishes arise from different environments and circumstances: availability of ingredients, cooking methods, climate, and so on. Matsuyama stated that Indian curry tends to be very spicy, which is handy in a hot, dry climate as some parts of India are, because it helps you sweat. Japanese curry, which tends to be very hearty and mild, works well in a climate that is colder. Thai curry uses a lot of coconut milk, something not available in Japan, and seafood. Curry as consumed in the UK has also been adjusted for local resources and taste.

A metal bowl with dark colored lamb curry, mixed with potatoes, and a spoon to scoop.

A fast-food tray with a bowl of tikka masala curry, an orange colored curry with basmati rice on one side, and naan bread. A glass of mango lassi in the back.

A blue and white bowl containing white rice on one half, and Japanese yellow curry with beef, potatoes and carrots on the other half.

A bowl of greenish-brown curry with bamboo shoots, beef, and a serving spoon.

Yet all of these are unquestionably curry. Anyone can taste any of these dishes and immediately recognize it as curry. In the same way, each tradition and sect with Buddhism is easily recognizable. It may not suit one’s personal taste, but the variety of cultures, historical precedents, people and geography have led to a variety of traditions, and there’s something for everyone. Of course, this is true of other world religions too, but I wanted to use Buddhism as the example.

So, when looking at the variety of ideas, teachings and practices, consider the example of curry. Different curries arise from different conditions, and each is suitable for different people, but also curry is delicious no matter how you try it. So, don’t be afraid to sample other versions.

¹ Unlike most Buddhist countries where monks are celibate and usually live a cloistered life, Buddhist monks in Japan are (for complex historical reasons that are too long to go into here) parochial, live among communities and marry.

Gardening with Shiso

Since the Pandemic started in early 2020, my wife and I took up very small-scale gardening in our backyard. My wife likes growing flowers and herbs, I like growing vegetables. This year, we both experimented with growing a popular Asian herb called shiso (シソ) in Japanese.¹

Shiso, also known as Perilla frutescens, is a member of the mint family and is also related to the sesame plant. Its taste is hard to explain, but the leaves are often shredded, or cut very thin and eaten raw along side things like natto, sushi, or cooked meat. It tastes very refreshing, but also kind of strong.

Anyhow, it turns out that there are many varieties of shiso, and my wife and I each planted a different variety. My wife chose this variety from a starter:

I grew this variety, aojiso (“green shiso”) from seeds:

The plants look similar, but are somewhat different. My wife’s variety is more ruffled, and green on the underside, while mine is flatter, more heart-shaped and reddish on the underside. Her shiso plants have a lighter flavor, mine are pretty strong tasting.

Both shiso varieties seemed to struggle to germinate in the colder PNW climate, but suddenly when June came and the weather warmed up noticeably they started growing much faster. They also get thirsty quickly, so they require water often.

Once they start sprouting leaves though, they sprout a lot. We keep harvesting and the plants keep growing more. Shiso is delicious, but it’s not possible for us to finish this much.

Shiso is not something Westerners often eat, but it’s widely used in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese cuisine, and it is fun to grow. It just needs a much warmer environment, and plenty of water.

Ordering Dashi

My wife of 20 years is from Japan, and we cook a mix of Japanese food and American food in the house.¹ The key to Japanese cuisine is using good dashi (だし), or powdered fish stock. Most Japanese foods that you’ve probably tried use dashi as the base even if you don’t notice it.

Needless to say, we use dashi almost daily at home. However, getting good dashi can be tough. Sometimes, you will find dashi sold in supermarkets, but it is usually filled with MSG, and not always good quality.

Thankfully, we discovered that the Japanese brand Kayanoya has a nice online store available in the US. From the web store, we ordered a batch of regular dashi, and a batch of vegetable stock. The packages arrived a week later:

The package also comes with some nice Japanese-style wrapping paper. This sheet features several flowers: chrysanthemum (kiku), irishes (ayame), bamboo (také) and so on. I saved this paper and decided to use this as a makeshift bookcover (more on that in a later post). Anyhow, the paper is seasonal, so depending on what you order, you may receive different wrapping paper.

The dashi is terrific, and well worth the purchase, but the real surprise was the vegetable stock. It was delicious, more so than other domestic vegetable broth I’ve purchased before, and makes a really good lentil and vegetable soup.

If you are in the US, and cook Japanese food regularly, or want to make a nice vegetable soup, definitely consider ordering from the online store if you can.

¹ My wife loves Korean food a lot (I do too), so we cook that too. We are lucky to have an H-Mart nearby, and a large number of Korean restaurants. I also experiment with making Indian-style curries, but I am still a long ways off from mastering it.

Nanakusa: Holiday of Seven Herbs

A small bowl of rice porridge with various greens mixed in.

As readers may have noticed from past posts, I have posted about certain traditional Japanese holidays, called sekku (節句). Examples included Girls Day (March 3rd), Children’s Day (May 5th), Tanabata (July 7th) and Day of the Chrysanthemum (September 9th). The last holiday on my list is actually the first on the calendar: Nanakusa (七草) which literally just means “seven grasses / herbs”. More formally it’s called jinjitsu no sekku (人日の節句, “day of the human”) as we’ll see shortly.

This holiday is surprisingly old, with origins in ancient custom in southern China whereby people would cook seven herbs as a porridge on the 7th day after the Chinese new year. It also relates to the Chinese lunar calendar, where the first seven days of the year were designated as rooster, dog, boar, sheep, ox, horse and human, the first six being animals of the zodiac. Since the seventh day was (for some reason) marked as the day of the human, criminal punishments were not executed on this day.

The custom of eating a seven-herb porridge carried over to Japan as nanakusa-gayu (七草がゆ), though in some households more than others. I had it once many years ago when we were first married, and visited my wife’s family home in December-January. I saw a bunch of roots and herbs in the kitchen, like the ones shown above, but didn’t give it much thought. The next day, we were served nanakusa-gayu porridge for breakfast. It has a pretty bland in taste, but that was how I learned about Nanakusa.

According to the Wikipedia article, the seven herbs are:

Old Japanese Name	Modern Name	English	Scientific
芹 (せり) seri	セリ seri	Japanese parsley	Oenanthe javanica
薺 (なずな) nazuna	ナズナ nazuna	Shepherd’s purse	Capsella bursa-pastoris
御形 (ごぎょう) gogyō	ハハコグサ (母子草) hahakogusa	Cudweed	Pseudognaphalium affine
繁縷 (はこべら) hakobera	コハコベ (小蘩蔞) kohakobe	Chickweed	Stellaria media
仏の座 (ほとけのざ) hotokénoza	コオニタビラコ (小鬼田子) koonitabirako	Nipplewort	Lapsanastrum apogonoides
菘 (すずな) suzuna	カブ (蕪) kabu	Turnip leaves	Brassica rapa
蘿蔔 (すずしろ) suzushiro	ダイコン (大根) daikon	daikon radish	Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Of these seven herbs, I’ve eaten turnips and Japanese daikon radish regularly, but the other five are pretty obscure to me. I doubt most Japanese would easily remember them off-hand either. Supposedly there is a song that is sometimes sung while facing the auspicious direction that year (same direction as for Setsubun, I suspect), but no one in my wife’s house sang it, or at least while I wasn’t around.

Edit: I found the song in a book recently:

せり Seri

なずな Nanazu

ごぎょう Gogyou

はこべら Hakobera

ほとけのざ Hotoke-no-za

すずな Suzuna

すずしろ Suzushiro

それは七草 Sore wa nanakusa (“That’s Nanakusa”)

Anyhow, that’s a look at Nanakusa. I joked with my wife if she’d make it this year, and she flatly refused. While it is a very traditional holiday, the porridge takes a lot of work, especially here in the US where the herbs might be hard to gather, and frankly isn’t great tasting. It’s a medicinal porridge more than comfort food. That said, it is a fascinating window into some very old Chinese traditions that still persist in Japan.

¹ The adolescent in me giggles whenever I read this plant name. 😂

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