Moon Palace

Mission, the autumn full moon parties in Nara (referred the my town Nara 7th Sep 2013 issue) (written 12 Sep 2013)

 Several full moon parties are going to take place in the 19th night of September in Nara prefecture.(the North area) (details are listed below.)

 1, The Sarusawaike Pond -Miko matsuri.

 Address, 49 Noborioji, Nara city. The event starts 5pm. Ask 0742-22-3900

 The two boats (shaped a doragon  and a phoenix) float on the water to go around the pond.

2, The Toshodaii Temple-Togetsu sanbutsukai

Address 13-46 Gojo, Nara city. The event starts 6pm-9pm.

Ask 0742-33-7900

Tea ceremony will take place at The Mikagedo Hall ( where the stature of Ganjinwajo is in).

The  full moon over The Mikagedo Hall is worth watching. No admission is required for the temple after 6pm. (In fact, The Mikagedo Hall costs adult ¥500, child ¥300 or ¥200 to enter. )

3, The Sanshozenji Temple-Sogetsunocyakai

Address 26/10 1-Hichijo, Nara city. The event starts 6pm-

Ask 0742-44-3333

The temple provides Zen at 6 and a tea party with a little recital of koto and shyakuhachi. The tea party will be carried out to be associated  with YANAGISAWA Yasumitsu (the lord of Koriyama Castle) who built tea rooms to enjoy watching  the Moon.

4, The Matsodera Temple-Togetsu meisokai

Address  683  Yamada, Yamatokoriyama city. The event starts 6pm-9pm.

Ask 0743-53-5023

The temple is known as the place for self disciplin, provids the beatiful moon and the night view. Tea will be made for the public at the tea room. The full moon Buddhist memorial service and the meditation lessons will be conducted. (free to join, NO bookings are essential.)

5, The Jikoin Temple-Togetsukai

Address 865 Koizumi, Yamatokoriyama city. The event starts 5pm-9pm.

Ask 0743-53-3004

The temple has one of the greatest gardens in Nara. The garden was  designed to be in harmony with surroundings. A tea room will be set for the public in the Taketori monogatari ( the Taketori tales) style, costs you ¥1500. The shojin cuisine dishes served 5pm to 7pm on the 19th (bookings are essential)

6, The Ogamijinjya Shrine (The Miwajinjya Shrine)-Togetsusai

Address 1422 Miwa, Sakurai city. The event starts 6:30pm-

Ask 0744-42-6633.

The 1000 lanterns are placed all over the place to be lit up at dusk.

Kagura and Gagaku will be performed by miko to dedicate at 6:30. More plays to be performed. Ask them for more information.

Generaly, these  religeous sites are not  accesible for the wheel chair users. Please  assk  me to gather more information  on specal  needs   by leaveing  me a comment.

 How ever, The Ogami Jinja Shrine  sounds good to me because  the shrine has the gigantic "torii" as well as the old wallking track called "Yamanobenomichi"nearby. "When I was a kid, I and my brother had crazy bike sessions there, got a moutain bike on steep down hills to have a good thrill, was a agreat fun." I don’t know  if they still let you in on a moutain bike though.

 Conclusion,  our traditional  "otsukimi" full moon party was  origenally conducted by the farmers to express their appreciation to the moon for the autumn harvest.

Therefore, our "otsukimi" is different to the "go crazy" kind  of psychedelic full moon parties on the beach.

Otsukimi requires no drugs, no tequila, no loud music. While You can experience things very Japanese and fantastic.