Mooncakes Rather Than Flowers for Mid-Autumn

Did you all get to see this year’s Mid-Autumn Moon?

In Tokyo, we were able to see a splendid moon on September 17.

In Japan, Mid-Autumn is associated with offering and eating tsukimi dango, while in China and elsewhere in Asia, including Taiwan and Vietnam, mooncakes are apparently more commonly enjoyed.

I had carefully saved a mooncake I received as a souvenir on a recent Vietnam Airlines flight until this day, so I enjoyed a mooncake in place of tsukimi dango.

In English, it is called a MOONCAKE.

Yes, it truly is a mooncake.

And, amazingly, the mooncake I received was pineapple-flavored.

The ones served in Taiwan and elsewhere are often richly seasoned with spices such as star anise, making them somewhat unfamiliar to Japanese people accustomed to mooncakes filled with sweet red bean paste.

Thinking this one would be the same, I tried it and was delighted to find that it tasted just like a Taiwanese pineapple cake (the fifth-generation proprietor loves Taiwanese pineapple cakes).

I would love to let the rabbit on the moon have some too.

Happy Mid-Autumn!