55th Annual Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival

Join Oaklanders under the moonlight for a traditional Japanese celebration of the Harvest Moon.

The Harvest moon is a symbol of blessing and abundance for many cultures. Similar to tea parties, these moon viewing parties are occasions for sharing food and stories while enjoying what is considered the most beautiful moon of the year.

Annually, several hundred people gather at Lake Merritt’s Lakeside Park Garden Center for the annual Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival. After an indoor program that typically includes martial arts demonstrations and Japanese drums, festival-goers walk to the lake to join astronomers and observe the powerful October new moon.

The Oakland Fukuoka Sister City Association, whose mission is to promote “cultural awareness, understanding, and friendship” between Oakland and Fukuoka, Japan, organizes the annual festival.

Program

5:30 p.m. Bonsai Garden & Bento Dinner

• Open House by the Golden State Bonsai Collection North 5:30-6:30 p.m.
• Japanese “Bento” box dinners (sushi & skewered meats/fish) created by Musashi of Berkeley.
  Vegetarian Bento available upon request*.
• Come see our 60th anniversary mosaic mural (dedicated in 2022), 10 Japanese stone lanterns dedicated in honor of our 50th anniversary in 2012, and the magnificent Torii Gate (dedicated in 2002 in the Memory of the late Oakland Council Member Frank Ogawa 1917-1994).

6:30 p.m. Entertainment

• Asian Pacific Children’s Convention Student Ambassadors
• Las Lomas High School Japanese language class
• Diablo Taiko (Japanese drums)

7:30 p.m. Moon Viewing

• Telescopic Viewing of the Moon and other celestial points of interest provided by the Eastbay Astronomical Society

The Harvest moon is a symbol of blessing and abundance for many cultures. Similar to tea parties, these moon viewing parties are occasions for sharing food and stories while enjoying what is considered the most beautiful moon of the year.