September’s gomei celebrate clear, high skies, harvest abundance, and the luminous moon of mid-autumn.
September’s gomei celebrate clear, high skies, harvest abundance, and the luminous moon of mid-autumn.
| Gomei | Meaning |
|---|---|
| aki no yo | Autumn Night |
| hounen | Bountiful Year |
| kikujidō_gomei | Kikujidō (Chrysanthemum Boy) |
| jūgoya | Fifteenth Night |
| inazuma | Lightning over rice fields |
| mizu sumu | Water Clears |
| nagatsuki | Nagatsuki (Poetic month name) |
| inekake | Sheaves hung on racks to dry |
| kosumosu_sept | Cosmos |
| kangetsubashi | “Moon-viewing bridge” |
| higanbana | Red spider lily |
| kōrogi | Cricket |
| nihyaku-tōka | 210th Day |
| boragumo | “Mullet clouds” (altocumulus) |
| chūshū | Mid-autumn night (15 Sep 旧暦) |
| ten-takaku-uma-koyu | “Sky high |
| ominaeshi-tsuyu | Dew on ominaeshi blossoms |
| hagi no tsuyu | Dew on the Bush Clover |
| aki no sora | Autumn Sky |
| hagi | Bush Clover |
| irotorizuki | “Month of deepening colors” |
| hototogisō | Toad-lily |
| fujibakama | Thoroughwort |
| tsukimachibune | Boat from which to await the moon |
| tsukimi | Moon-viewing gathering |
| shinsoba | First soba of the year |
| kangetsu | Moon Contemplation |
| inekari | Rice harvesting |
| nadeshiko | Fringed Pink (Dianthus) |
| manjushage | Sanskrit-style name for higanbana |
| imo meigetsu | Taro Moon |
| shiratsuyugusa | Grass beaded with white dew |
| kikuzake | Sake infused with chrysanthemum petals |
| suzumushi | Bell Cricket |
| ten-takashi | “Sky lofty and clear” |
| inaho-bikari | Glint on ripened rice ears |
| aki no koe | Voice of Autumn |
| kari-wataru | Wild geese in flight |
| kōshū | “Lofty autumn” |
| mushi-kakurete-to-fusagu | “Insects close their doors” micro-season |
| akibara | Autumn-blooming roses |
| hakuro | “White Dew” solar term |
| hoshimatsuri-kaze | Breeze on star-fest nights (Seven-Three nights post-Tanabata) |
| susuki | Pampas Grass |
| mizuhiki_plant | Mizuhiki (Persicaria filiformis) |
| tsuki usagi | Moon Rabbit |
| tsuki-usagi | Moon rabbit |
| kariwatashi | Goose-Herding Wind |
| mame meigetsu | Bean Moon |
| inaho | Rice ears heavy with grain |
| shika no ne | Cry of the Deer |
| sobabana | Buck-wheat flowers |
| hageitō | Joseph's Coat Amaranth |
| mushi no ne | Sound of Insects |
| taifū-ikka | Clear sky after a typhoon |
| hatsutake | Season’s first mushrooms |
| tsuyuzamu | Chill felt in dawn dew |
| chūshū no meigetsu | Mid-Autumn Harvest Moon |
| shūbun | Autumnal Equinox |
| tsukikage | Moonlight |
| mushikago | Bamboo insect cage |
| chōyō | Chōyō (Chrysanthemum Festival) |
| inahonami | “Rice-ear waves” |
| sekirei-naku | “Wagtails sing” micro-season |
| wasegaki | Early-ripening persimmon |
| kari-no-koe | Honking of wild geese |
| kikujidō | Immortal of the chrysanthemum legend |
| kinpū | “Golden wind” |
| gumi_sept | Oleaster / Dogwood Berry |
| hatsukari | First Geese of the Season |
| hakuro_sept | White Dew |
| hatsukari | Season’s first wild goose |
| sayaka | Clear |
| aki no iro | Colors of Autumn |
| hōjō | Abundant harvest |
| nagori no natsu | Lingering Remnants of Summer |
| keirō no hi | Respect for the Aged Day |
| imomeigetsu | “Taro moon” |
| chōyō | Double-Nine festival (9 Sep) |
| shion | Tatarian aster |
| tsuyukeshi | “Heavy with dew” |
| kakibeni | Persimmon-red colour |
| mozu | Shrike |
| akizora | Autumn sky |
| nochi no tsuki | Later Moon |
| hatsu momiji | First Autumn Colors |
| mushiawase | Cricket-chirp contest |
| sanma | Pacific saury |
| ugetsu | Rainy Moon (on a moon-viewing night) |
| waremokō | Great Burnet |
| tsukikage | Silver moonlight |
| minori_sept | Ripening / Bearing Fruit |
| hatsukaze | First Wind of Autumn |
| hasakage | Shadow of rice racks at sunset |
| niibashirimizu | Fresh spring water for moon tea |
| mushikagomado-kage | Shadow of insect cage on shōji |
| kikumakura | Chrysanthemum Pillow |
| kaminari-koe-wo-osamu | “Thunder ceases its voice” micro-season |
| sōrai | Refreshing Sound of the Wind |
| shūbun | Autumn equinox solar term |
| mochidzuki | Full Moon |
| tsubame-saru | “Swallows depart” micro-season |
| shinmai | Newly hulled rice |
| ominaeshi | Patrinia scabiosifolia |
| kigiku | Yellow chrysanthemums |
| aki no yama | Autumn Mountain |
| shūkō | Autumn Light |
| kikumī | Informal chrysanthemum viewing |
| kurigohan | Rice cooked with chestnuts |
| nogiku | Wild field chrysanthemum |
| inaho | Ear of Rice |
| inazuma | Lightning |
| nihyaku-hatsuka | 220th Day |
| mushishigure | Insect Shower |
| shinnyo no tsuki | Moon of Truth |
| gekkakō | Tuberose fragrance at night |
| mugetsu | Moonless (on a moon-viewing night) |
| kikuzumi | “Chrysanthemum charcoal” |
| yonaga | Long Nights |
| aki no mizu | Autumn Water |
| tsukisuzu | “Coolness under the moon” |
| ginnan | Ginkgo nuts |
| tsukikusa | Moon Plant |
| kikuninngyō | Dolls made of chrysanthemum blooms |
| kikkaten | Chrysanthemum exhibition |
| satoimo | Taro tuber |
| akinasu | Autumn eggplant |
| akibare_sept | Clear Autumn Weather |
| nadeshiko | Pink (Dianthus) |
| shiragiku | White chrysanthemum |
| mushi-okuribi | Fire ceremony to chase crop pests |
| tsukinowa-ishi | “Moon-ring stone” used in roji |
| amanogawa | Milky Way |
| kinuta | Fulling Block |
| meigetsu | The Harvest Moon |
| kikyou | Bellflower (re-contextualized) |
| tsuyuzamu | Dewy Cold |
| higan-ake | Last day of Higan |
| matsuyoi | Waiting for the Evening/Moon |
| ominaeshi | Patrinia scabiosifolia (re-contextualized) |
| rindō | Gentian |
| kuzu_plant | Kuzu / Arrowroot Plant |
| hanano | Field of Autumn Flowers |
| kikubiyori | Perfect weather for chrysanthemums |
| enkō sorugetsu | Monkey Trying to Catch the Moon's Reflection |
| tsuyukusa | Asiatic Dayflower |
| karita | Just-harvested paddy |
| kikuzake | Chrysanthemum Sake |
| tsukimachitō | Rural moon-waiting stone stupa |
| urokogumo | Mackerel Sky (Cirrocumulus) |
| kangetsuyu | Bath taken before moon-viewing |
| nowaki_sept | Autumn Gale / Typhoon |
| mizuho | “Auspicious ears of rice” |
| chōju | Longevity |
| yonagazuki | “Long-night month” |
| kiku no sekku | Chrysanthemum Festival |
| shiragiku | White Chrysanthemum |
| yamagiku | Mountain chrysanthemum |
| kigiku | Yellow Chrysanthemum |
| chiyomigusa | Classical name for chrysanthemum |
| nagatsuki | Old lunar name of September (“long night month”) |
| kari | Wild Goose |
| kikukashu | Alternate name for kikuzake |
| hatsutsuyu | First Dew of the Season |
| kiku_september | Chrysanthemum |
| higan-iri | First day of Higan |
| shūrei | Clear and Beautiful Autumn Day |
| tsukimi | Moon Viewing |
| akihigan | Autumn Higan week |
| jūsan'ya | Thirteenth Night |
| jūgoya | Fifteenth-night moon |
| kangiku | Chrysanthemum viewing party |
| kisewata | Cotton on Chrysanthemums |
| aki no nanakusa | Seven Flowers of Autumn |
| mushii | Insect vendors |
| iwashigumo | Cirrocumulus Clouds |
| yumiharizuki | Waxing/Waning Moon (Bow Moon) |
| gankō | Geese lined in flight |
| mizu-hajimete-karuru | “Paddy water first dries” micro-season |
| asagiri | Morning mist |
| shūshi | Autumnal wistfulness |
| nowaki | Typhoon-type autumn storm |
| akibare | Crystal autumn fine weather |
| kikuzuki | “Chrysanthemum month” |
| takesudare-zuki | Moonlight through bamboo blinds |
| nochinoashitanokiku | Chrysanthemum the Morning After |
| matsutake | Matsutake mushroom |
| katsura_september | Katsura Tree/Cinnamon Tree (in moon context) |
| kinmokusei | Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus |
| ganraikō | Amaranth |
| kusanotsuyu-shiroshi | “Dew whitens on grass” micro-season |
| gengetsu | Another classical name for September |
| tsukimi-dango | Spherical rice cakes for moon-viewing |
Two classical observances shape the month: Tsukimi (moon-viewing) around the harvest moon and the Chrysanthemum Festival (Chōyō, 9 Sept). Tea utensils may be named “Meigetsu” (Bright Moon), “Kangetsu-dai” (Moon-Viewing Platform), or “Kiku-no-Shizuku” (Chrysanthemum Dew), suggesting refined clarity. Cool night air, insect music, and newly ripened rice appear in poetic names like “Inaho” (Rice Ears) or “Suzumushi” (Bell Cricket). Scrolls quote Tang and Heian poems on the pure void of autumn, sweets are shaped like rice sheaves or silver‐white pampas grass, and the overall tone is serene gratitude for a season briefly balanced between heat and chill.