September 2026 Ouchigohan - Otsukimi

Together with Table for Two, a network of Japan-America Societies, and the US JET Alumni Association, we JASA are excited to host Sept Ouchigohan - virtual Japanese cooking class.

The theme for this month will be "Otsukimi - お月見" where we’ll be making :

- Otsukimi Meatballs

- Okura Pickles

- Mitarashi Dango

JASA members, or members of other Japan-America/Japan Societies receive a $5 registration discount. 

お月見 (Otsukimi), literally meaning “moon viewing,” is a celebration that honors the autumn harvest moon, historically believed to be the most beautiful of the year.

Traditionally held on the 15th night of the eighth month of the old Japanese lunar calendar, otsukimi now falls on a varying date in September or October according to the modern calendar.

In Japanese folklore, a rabbit lives on the moon, endlessly pounding rice into soft, chewy mochi with a wooden mallet. This image—rather than the “man in the moon”—has shaped the way generations of children and adults imagine the night sky. The rabbit and mochi connection also influences the treats eaten during otsukimi: tsukimi dango, small white rice dumplings stacked in a pyramid, are offered to the moon to pray for a good harvest and prosperity.

This class will be taught by Debra Samuels, lead curriculum and recipe developer for Wa-Shokuiku, a program of TABLE FOR TWO USA. Debra is an author of two cookbooks and co-author of Japanese Cooking for Kids, TFT’s new cookbook and the 2020 recipient of the John E. Thayer III Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cultural Exchange Between the United States and Japan.