September 9: Once an occasion for praying for longevity, chrysanthemum viewing, and chrysanthemum sake
Sep 01,2022
Have you ever heard of the Choyo Festival? Also known as the Chrysanthemum Festival, the Choyo Festival is held on September 9, and like the Peach Festival and the Tango Festival, it’s one of the five traditional Japanese seasonal festivals. But the Peach Festival is still celebrated as the Doll Festival. The Tango Festival is now a statutory holiday under the name “Children’s Day.” The Choyo Festival, by contrast, is hardly mentioned anymore. So what kind of celebration was it? We ask food culture expert Kiyoshi Aya.
The “chrysanthemum banquets” of the ancient Japanese nobility
In ancient China, dates repeating an odd number—the seventh of the first month, the third of the third month, the fifth of the fifth month, the seventh of the seventh month, and the ninth of the ninth month—were traditionally considered inauspicious. Various rites were therefore held on each to expel evil spirits. These days are known as the five seasonal festivals, and they spread to the Japanese court nobility in ancient times. The ninth of the ninth month, called the Choyo or “Double Yang” Festival, was considered particularly significant, for nine is the largest of the basic odd numbers. Aya explains its origins.
Food culture expert Kiyoshi Aya
“The Double Yang Festival is said to have its origins in the Chinese legend of Huan Jing. One day, a man with supernatural powers advised Huan Jing, ‘A disaster shall befall your family on the ninth day of the ninth month. To avoid it, climb a lofty mountain and drink wine containing chrysanthemum blossoms.’ Huan Jing did as he was told and escaped unharmed. This legend gave rise to the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine and going picnicking in the countryside on the ninth of the ninth month. This custom spread from China to the Japanese nobility in the Nara (710-784) and Heian (794-1185) periods.”
The Nihon Shoki, Japan’s oldest official history, records that a banquet was held on the ninth day of the ninth month of 685. By the Heian period, this had become a regular event on the imperial court calendar called the “chrysanthemum banquet.” On this occasion, chrysanthemum sake was drunk and kiku-awase or “chrysanthemum contests” were held, in which contestants compared chrysanthemums and vied for the title of the most beautiful.
“Another Choyo Festival tradition was the practice of kisewata or ‘silk dressing.’ On the eve of the festival, floss silk covers would be placed over chrysanthemums. By the next morning, the silk had become saturated with the scent of the chrysanthemums and the morning dew. It was then rubbed on the face, as it was thought to have rejuvenating powers. This custom was widely practiced by the Heian nobility. It’s described in the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.”
If you visit a Japanese confectionary store in autumn, you may see a confection molded into the shape of a chrysanthemum on the shelf. It’s called Kisewata, and it has its origins in the Choyo Festival.
Floss silk covers, chrysanthemum sake, and chestnuts. Illustration from Ehon miyako sōshi.
Source: Pre-Modern Japanese Text Dataset, National Institute of Japanese Literature
The people of Edo celebrated the Choyo Festival by viewing chrysanthemums and eating rice with chestnuts.
In the Edo period (1603-1867), the five seasonal festivals all became holidays. The Choyo Festival thus became a well-known occasion among ordinary Japanese.
“Surviving records describing how in Edo (as Tokyo was then known), people would drink chrysanthemum sake on the Choyo Festival and admire the chrysanthemums. Morning glories became popular in the later Edo period as many new varieties were created through selective breeding. Various new strains of chrysanthemums likewise emerged, and chrysanthemum shows and crafts made of chrysanthemums became all the rage. Going to see them was known as kangiku or ‘chrysanthemum viewing.’ This day was also known as the Chestnut Festival. According to surviving accounts, people would eat rice boiled with chestnuts, or they would roast chestnuts or put them in nishime or stewed dishes. They also exchanged chestnuts as presents.”
Girl picking chrysanthemum petals to put in chrysanthemum sake.
From Hōsai gosekku asobi: Chōyō no sekku.
Source: National Diet Library Digital Collections.
“In Osaka, chestnut and matsutake mushroom markets were held just before the Choyo Festival. Persimmons and grapes also served as offerings. People thus enjoyed the tastes of autumn on the occasion of the Choyo Festival, since autumn is a season of bounty. In Shiga and northeast Honshu, according to extant records, edible chrysanthemums were grown, and on this day, people would eat them boiled and seasoned in the form of ohitashi.”
The tradition of growing and eating chrysanthemums still lives on in these regions. At the Saikyoji temple in Sakamoto, Shiga Prefecture, a dish made with chrysanthemums called the Sakamoto Kiku Gozen (Sakamoto Chrysanthemum Dinner) is served in autumn. Yamagata, Niigata, and Aomori Prefectures have all become well-known producers of edible chrysanthemums.
How the Choyo Festival gradually became forgotten
But the Choyo Festival, unlike the other seasonal festivals, failed to evolve into a major modern celebration. Aya explains why.
“The Peach Festival and Tanabata and the Tango Festival were celebrations of children’s growth or occasions for decorating one’s home and eating traditional festive foods. And they weren’t just celebrated in Edo. They spread all over Japan. But the Choyo Festival didn’t do so to the same extent. In farming villages, the ninth month was the month of harvest festivals celebrating the gathering in of the crops. Kyushu, for example, had the Okunchi festival, a festival of thanksgiving for the harvest. And in certain regions, celebrations were held on the ninth, the nineteenth, and the twenty-ninth of the ninth month. These were called mikunichi or ‘the three ninths.” These festivals predate the Choyo Festival’s achievement of holiday status, and they were celebrated in grand style. That’s believed to be the reason the Choyo Festival never really caught on.”
After the five seasonal festivals ceased to be holidays in the Meiji period (1868-1912), the custom of expelling evil spirits and praying for longevity on this day gradually became obsolete. A 1911 account of annual events and celebrations in Tokyo notes that the Choyo Festival “is not now given much weight.” Another text on the folk customs of Tokyo, dating from 1899, notes that “the Choyo Festival has virtually died out.”
Most Japanese today know hardly anything about the Choyo Festival. “That’s really too bad. It’s a bit of a shame,” says Aya.
“The Choyo Festival has ceased to be a familiar part of Japanese life. Originally, it was an occasion for expelling evil spirits and praying for long life. September 9 according to the current calendar may still be too hot to call autumn. But you can still honor the festival’s original significance. Why not spend the day enjoying the cycle of the seasons by, say, taking a short hike in the highlands?”
