A full harvest moon is seen through wisps of cloud from Fukuoka's Nishi Ward on Sept. 21, 2021. Fukuoka Tower is seen in the foreground. (Mainichi/Yoshiyuki Hirakawa)=Click/tap photo for more images.

       FUKUOKA -- A full harvest moon was seen in this southwest Japan city as it shone in the night sky through wisps of cloud, as well as in many other parts of the country on Sept. 21.

       The harvest moon refers to the full moon nearest the time of the autumn equinox. The full moon was the first to fall on "chushu" (mid-autumn) -- the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunisolar calendar -- since 2013.

       A new moon used to mark the first day of each month in the old calendar. A full moon was supposed to fall on the 15th day of each month, but as a full moon often appears a few days earlier or later than the 15th, it is rather rare that a full moon is seen on chushu.

       According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, chushu will fall on a full moon day again in 2022 and 2023, but after that, the next one will not occur until 2030.

       (Japanese original by Yoshiyuki Hirakawa, Kyushu Photo Department)

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