Hey everyone~! It’s Zundamon, nanoda!
Today, Friday, September 25th, 2026, is the Harvest Moon, nanoda! đ
It’s a night for decorating the veranda with pampas grass, piling up dango, and gazing at the big round moon together, nanoda.
…But this year’s moon viewing started with a little incident, nanoda.
That’s right, Ankomon came barging in, nanoda.
đ First, Let Me Tell You About Moon Viewing, nanoda
Moon viewing is an event where we gaze at the autumn moon and give thanks for the year’s harvest, nanoda.
They say the custom of “kangetsu” (moon viewing) came from China during the Heian period and gradually changed as it spread throughout Japan, nanoda.
- The dango are made to look like the big round moon.
- The pampas grass is a substitute for rice stalks (and I hear it’s also supposed to ward off evil spirits, nanoda).
- Some regions also offer taro or chestnuts, which is why it’s also called “Imo-meigetsu” (Taro Moon), nanoda.
We decorate the veranda at the Zunda Union house with pampas grass and dango every year, nanoda.
The autumn air is a little chilly and feels so nice, nanoda~.
đ Metan’s Trivia: Tonight’s Harvest Moon “Isn’t a Full Moon,” nanoda
While we were getting ready, Shikoku Metan said something with a cool look on her face, nanoda.
Metan: “Tonight’s Harvest Moon isn’t actually a full moon, you know.”
Me: “Huh?! It’s the Harvest Moon but it’s not a full moon, nanoda!?”
Metan: “The full moon in 2026 is on September 27th. That’s a full two days after the Harvest Moon. It’s quite rare.”
Apparently, a gap this big happened last in 2017 and won’t happen again until 2043, nanoda.
Metan: “So tonight’s moon is a Harvest Moon that’s just slightly waning. The next time we’ll see this same gap is in 17 years.”
Me: “17 years from now… will I still be eating zunda mochi, nanoda?”
Metan: “You probably will be.”
…She answered instantly, nanoda.
By the way, this year, the days right before this, from September 21st (Monday, Respect for the Aged Day) to September 23rd (Wednesday, Autumnal Equinox Day), were a three-day weekend, nanoda.
September 22nd became a “Citizen’s Holiday,” making it a nice little bonus lineup, nanoda.
Relaxing during the long weekend, and then the Harvest Moon two days later… September is just packed with autumn fun, nanoda! đ
đĄ Incident Alert! Ankomon Barged In, nanoda
I was busy making zunda dango in the kitchen when the front door flew open with a BANG!, nanoda.
Ankomon: “I won’t accept a moon viewing with only zunda dango, mon.”
Me: “Ankomon! Why are you here, nanoda!?”
Ankomon: “I-It’s not like I wanted to come, mon. I just came to show you the power of anko dango, mon.”
In her hands was a tray piled high with anko dango.
…No matter how you look at it, she’d clearly been preparing them since this morning, nanoda.
And so, the Zunda Dango vs. Anko Dango showdown began, nanoda!
The Showdown Rules
- Line up both types of dango on the veranda for the moon viewing.
- The judges will do a taste test.
- They will choose “the one more fitting for tonight’s moon viewing.”
The judges are the four of them: Zunko-sama, Kiritan, Itako-neesan, and Metan, nanoda.
What an all-star panel of judges, nanoda!
đ The Judges’ Comments, nanoda
Zunko-sama
“The zunda dango has such a lovely, light aroma of edamame. The green color looks so beautiful in the moonlight.”
“…But it’s hard to pass up the deep sweetness of the anko dango, too. Oh, what a dilemma.”
Zunko-sama is too nice, so she ended up praising both of them, nanoda.
Kiritan
“The zunda is light, so you can eat a bunch of them. The anko is very satisfying with just one.”
“…In other words, in gaming terms, it’s a rapid-fire weapon versus a one-hit KO.”
Kiritan, your analogy is totally a video game thing, nanoda.
Itako-neesan
“…Both have a flavor that brings the face of their maker to mind.”
Just one sentence, but it’s the most profound one, nanoda….
Metan
“If we were scoring them, zunda wins on aroma, and anko wins on aftertaste. The total score is… pretty much the same.”
“Do we even need to declare a winner in the first place?”
đ¤ The Result… Is a Draw, nanoda!
Metan’s comment made everyone think the same thing, nanoda.
Why not just put both on one skewer, nanoda.
And with that, the two-color dango, skewered in a “zunda -> anko -> zunda” pattern, was born, nanoda.
The green and azuki-red colors side-by-side look surprisingly beautiful under the moon, nanoda.
Me: “This is super delicious, nanoda!”
Ankomon: “…W-well, it’s not bad, mon.”
Me: “Ankomon, your ears are red, nanoda.”
Ankomon: “The pampas grass just brushed against them, mon!”
She’s not very honest, nanoda. But that’s just who Ankomon is, nanoda đ
đ° Is There a Rabbit on the Moon, nanoda?
While we were eating the two-color dango, Zunko-sama told us the story of the moon rabbit, nanoda.
“A long, long time ago, a rabbit threw itself into a fire to feed a hungry old man. A deity saw this and preserved the rabbit’s image on the moon.”
…That’s kind of a sad story, nanoda.
They say this story is why the markings on the moon are said to look like a rabbit pounding mochi, nanoda.
Me: “To me, it looks like the rabbit is pounding zunda mochi, nanoda.”
Kiritan: “That’s not your eyesight, that’s your wishful thinking.”
Itako-neesan: “…Hee hee.”
Itako-neesan laughed, nanoda. That’s rare, nanoda.
đ° To Sum It Up, nanoda
I’ll summarize what I learned from tonight’s moon viewing, nanoda!
- The 2026 Harvest Moon is on September 25th (Fri), and the full moon is two days later on September 27th, nanoda.
- This gap is super rare, happening last in 2017 and next in 2043, nanoda (according to Metan’s research).
- The zunda dango and anko dango battle was a draw. The two-color dango is the strongest, nanoda.
- Pampas grass is a substitute for rice stalks, and dango are made to look like the moon.
- Ankomon is a tsundere, but she’s serious about making dango, nanoda.
If you haven’t looked up at the night sky yet, you should definitely go out on your balcony tonight, nanoda! đ
And don’t forget to check out the full moon on September 27th, too, nanoda!
If you want to know more about Ankomon, check out Ankomon’s character profile, and you can see my page at Zundamon’s page, nanoda.
You can see how all 10 members are connected on our Relationship Chart page, nanoda! đ
I’ll be posting pictures of tonight’s dango on X (formerly Twitter), so please take a look if you’d like, nanoda!
What kind of dango do you eat for moon viewing where you live? I’d love for you to tell me, nanoda.
Well then, see you in the next blog post, nanoda~!
This was Zundamon, nanoda~! đĄ