Mendocino Obon Festival
メンドシーノお盆祭り
メンドシーノお盆祭り
A True Japanese Summer Festival in an Enchanting Coastal Village
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025
Hello! This is Kimmie Shuck, a co-founder of the Mendocino Obon Festival.
Our obon festival was a tremendous success this year.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
We would like to keep on improving the event year after year, so we are recharging with KAIZEN (continuous improvement) spirit right now. During these preparation months, however, I would like to share my stories about Japan. I was born and raised in Japan, and as an adult, I moved to the US. My time here is exceeding my time in Japan, but there is a saying that, “you can take out a person from Japan, but you cannot take out Japan from a person,” which is an exact case for me. From the view of a former full-time Japanese, you may find something unusual and interesting… I hope you enjoy them!
October is here, and fall is in full swing. The first thing I think of relating “fall” is OTSUKIMI, viewing and appreciating CHUSHU NO MEIGETSU, direct translation of Beautiful Moon in Mid-Fall, which is Harvest Moon.
The family I grew up with was a huge OTSUKIMI “decoration” fan, so every year, we set up a small table in our terrace for a bouquet of grass and flowers, steamed taro, and sweet mochi (rice flour) cakes, and other food items. We hurried to finish our dinner and sat just to look at the moon. We all gathered at the beginning, but soon my mom had to go back to dishes and cleaning, and my dad usually sat for 10 minutes or so. My sister was too busy and so was my aunt. Then here my grandma and I sat for a couple of hours. I did not understand we could sit for such a long time, but we did. I remembered that I really liked “moon light bath” with its mysterious calming yet exuberant effects – maybe because of that? Perhaps.
My grandma was not a talkative person, but she was unusually cheerful (thanks to the moon!), and she started talking about two rabbits living on the moon. Those rabbits were making mochi to celebrate a beautiful moon, so that was why we honored their hard work with our offerings of flowers and food. “If you look closely, you can see those rabbits. See them? Those shadows look like rabbits pounding mochi in a mortar, right?” she said. I was a “good” kid without questioning and challenging to adults, so I was just quietly listening to her story, but my 4-year-old brain had almost burst with so many questions.
I don’t make out rabbits from the shadows like a grandma says. They must be super-sized giant special rabbits! Like size of Godzilla! How can rabbits hold mochi pounding in a mortar, though? One must pound, and the other must move around mochi with a wet hand. Wait, do rabbits have hands like us? Can they even stand up? They must! How much mochi do they make? What do they do the rest of the year, or do they make mochi every day? Who is eating the mochi they make? How do they get mochi rice? ???
It turns out that the story of Moon and Rabbits was based on a folklore, which goes like this. A rabbit, a fox, and a monkey were asked to prepare food for a hungry old man, but a rabbit could not offer any food unlike a fox and monkey. After a long thinking, a rabbit finally jumped into the fire himself, saying, “Please eat me.” A hungry old man was God, took pity on devotion of the rabbit and resurrected him on the moon to serve as an example to follow. Then, rabbits make mochi for God on the moon.
Now I know those rabbits make mochi for God. One less question!
CHUSHU NO MEIGETUS (Harvest Moon) this year is October 6.
2025年9月30日
こんにちは!メンドシーノお盆祭りの創設者、言い出しっぺメンバー シャックきみこです。
今年のお盆祭りはお陰様で、大盛況でした。そして、皆さんから多くの嬉しいコメントを頂きました。
どうもありがとうございました。
とは言えイベントはまだまだ改善の余地があるので、今は準備期間として色々検討中です。 充電期間ですね。 でも、その間、このサイトで、わたし個人の日本にまつわる話をしたいなと思い、こうして書いています。 わたしは日本で生まれ育っていますが、こちらアメリカ合衆国で暮らす年数がとうとう日本にいた年数を越してしまいました。 英語のいいまわしで “人をある場所から移すことはできるが、その人の心からその場所を奪うことはできない” というのがあります。わたしの場合、これは日本で、わたしから日本を無くすことはできません。そんな ”以前はフルタイム日本人“の話がひょっとしたら面白いこともあるかも?と思っています。 こちらの生活と日本のルーツ、の話。 お付き合いいただけたら嬉しいです。
十月です!秋です!秋というと、やはり、お月見です、わたしの場合。 中秋の名月、こちらではハーベストムーンといいます。 わたしの家族はお月見お供えデコレーションの大ファンで、毎年、縁側に小机を置いて、ススキと桔梗などのお花、サトイモの衣被(皮付き)、お月見団子、などなど、いそいそと飾ってました。 暗くなってくると夕食をサッサと済まして縁側に集合します。 ですが、母は夕食の跡片付けで忙しく、父は10分くらいが限度でその場を離れ、姉も叔母もいつかいなくなり、わたしと祖母でお月見、が毎年のパターンでした。 2時間くらい座って月を愛でる(って、愛って書くんですね。)訳ですが、不思議と飽きないし疲れない。 月光を浴びるという行為は何故か、落ち着くんだけど、同時に気持ちが高揚する、不思議な効果があったのを覚えています。
で、ばあちゃんの話が始まります。 例の月とウサギのはなし。 ばあちゃんも月光ですこし気持ちが浮いていたのでしょうか? 多分。 いつになく多弁になって、 “ほら、あの月の影の部分が二匹のウサギがお餅をついているように見えるでしょ? お供えはそんな働き者のウサギのためなんだよ。” 当時のわたしは物静かで、大人を質問攻めとかしないタイプだったので、静かにふんふんとばあちゃんの話を聞いていましたが、実は4歳の頭の中は質問だらけ。
あんな月の影の部分、ウサギになんて見えない。 もしあれがウサギなら、ゴジラ級のサイズじゃん。 大体、ウサギって餅つき道具、持つことができるの? 一匹はつく役で、もう一匹はこねるんでしょ? できるの? ウサギって人間みたいな手だっけ? しかも立つことできたっけ? お餅ってどれくらい作るの? 一年のうちの他の日はどうしてるの? それとも毎日餅つきするの? 大体ついたお餅、誰が食べるんですか? もち米って月にあるの? などなど。
月とウサギの話をちょっと検索してみたら、ああーそういえばあったね、という伝承物語に出会いました。 その話とは、こうです。 ある日、キツネ、サル、そしてウサギがお腹の空いたおじいさんに出会い、何か食べものを調達することになりましょた。 キツネとサルはすぐに食べものを持ってくることが出来たけれど、ウサギは何も見つからず、悲しい思いで、おじいさんのところに戻ってきました。 そしてしばらく考えていた後、とうとう焚火の中へ飛び込んで、“わたしを食べてください!” と言いました。 実はおじいさんは神様で、そんなウサギをかわいそうに思い、月でずっと暮らせるようにしました。 月の影はそんなウサギの姿をいつまでも残し、ウサギの優しい尽くす心を忘れてはいけないよ とわたしたちに教えるためなのです。 ウサギは月で神様にお餅を作り続けています。 とさ。 めでたしめでたし。
そうか、神様がお餅を食べるんだ! 答えをありがとう!
今年の中秋の名月は10月6日です。
Thank you all!
WE APPRECIATE YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT.
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
We would LOVE to hear from you about our 2025 Event!
Please send your email to: mendobonfest@gmail.com
Since the 1960s, Mendocino has been fostering a close friendship with Japan.
To keep our tradition alive,
we would like to offer authentic Japanese cultural experiences to everyone.
We hope that your wonderful summer memories of this festival will last forever like perpetual ocean waves
in your heart...
Japanese people believe the spirits of ancestors and the departed loved ones are coming home in the middle of August each year. Obon is the period that we welcome their return and celebrate the time together once again.
We honor our ancestral heritage, revisit the precious memories with loved ones, and reconnect with family, friends, and community. The farewell dancing, “Bon Odori,” a circle dance with easy moves, is for everyone to join. Bon Odori is a gift from the living to the deceased.
From the South:
US 101 North to Cloverdale >
CA Route 128 West to Mendocino / Fort Bragg >
CA Route 1 North to Mendocino
From the North:
US 101 South to Willits >
CA Route 20 West to Fort Bragg >
CA Route 1 South to Mendocino
Mendocino Art Center:
NW corner of Little Lake Street and Kasten Street
45200 Little Lake St, Mendocino, CA 95460
OUR PARTNERS & SPONSORS
Taka's Grill
More Information about Performers, Artists, and Supporters >
Contact mendobonfest@gmail.com
to get more information on the festival
This festival is funded solely by donations, and the net proceeds support the Mendocino Sister Cities Association programs: Student Exchange Program and Artist Exchange Program between Mendocino and Omachi-Miasa, Japan.
Please send your email to mendobonfest@gmail.com to find out how to GIVE.
Thank you for your contributions.