tsuki no usagi

Have you ever heard that there is a rabbit in the moon?

In Japanese, they call this "tsuki no usagi".

Recently, my mom gave Satoshi a hanafuda set for his birthday.

Hanafuda (literally flower card) is a game played with cards decorated with flowers or foliage. There are suits for every month and there are four cards per suit.

I remember playing this game growing up, but had to re-read the directions when Satoshi and I actually played this.

He was impressed that I knew some of the terminology and was surprised that we played this growing up.

As a child, the pictures on the cards really made an impression on me as we don't have these types of flowers, plants in Hawaii.

After receiving this set, we've played this several times and Satoshi has almost never won. He's been asking for re-matches ever since...help!

So, getting back to the rabbit in the moon...inside the directions of the game, there was a little story, which I thought would be nice to share.

"A long time ago, the Old Man of the Moon decided to visit the Earth. He disguised himself as an old beggar and asked Saru (monkey), Kitsune (fox) and Usagi (rabbit) for some food.

Saru climbed a tree and brought him some fruit. Kitsune went to a stream and caught him a fish. But Usagi found nothing for him to eat but grass. So, instead, Usagi asked the beggar to build a fire. After the beggar built the fire, Usagi leapt into it and offered himself as a meal.

Suddenly, the beggar changed himself back into the Old Man of the Moon and save Usagi from the flames. He said, "Usagi-san, do not harm yourself for my sake. Since you have been the kindest of all, I will carry you back to the moon to live with me."

Next time there is a full moon, look for the rabbit."

Hopefully it will remind you to show kindness to others too.