
Japanese School

The Japanese month name for September is "Nagatsuki".
Nagatsuki means "Long Night". In September, the nights are getting longer and many years ago before lights were invented, people were in fear of the dark. They spent their time thinking about their lovers and wrote letters to them. There is a Buddhism week called "Higan" - which means "the equinox week". During this week people go to their family's grave to clean the grave and to pray for them. There is a special sweet prepared for this time - "Ohagi" - which is a rice ball coated with sweetened red beans. "Hagi" originally means a Japanese bush clover. The sweets are an imitation of that flower. Try one - you might like them.