Strolling around the Palaceside Building on the afternoon of the 17th, one suddenly came upon a long line in a back alley. In heat above 30°C, the crowd numbered well over 100. Drawing closer, it became clear that people were waiting for a limited goshuin stamp, “Jugoya” (the harvest moon).
The stamps were being issued at Eiju Inari Shrine in Kanda-Ogawamachi, less than a 10-minute walk from the building. A bunrei (divided spirit) was received from Fushimi Inari in Kyoto in the early Edo period. In the Meiji era a fair was held on the 5th and 10th of each month, and the shrine came to be affectionately known as “Goto Inari.” Its goshuin have long been praised as “adorable.”
The night of September 17 was, after all, the harvest moon—the mid-autumn full moon. On the way home from the office, perhaps I should pick up some tsukimi dango and admire the moon from my balcony for the first time in a while. Or maybe, in the end, it will be moon-viewing sake.