Rabbit of the Moon [Land of Elysion]

..::Rabbit of the Moon::..

If you know anything at all about Sailor Moon, then I'm sure you've read on some other site about the meaning (or sound) of Usagi's name. Tsuki no usagi sounds like the phrase "rabbit of the moon." this is not another page explaining her name though....We are going to delve into the legend of this Moon rabbit so that next time you think of the name Usagi Tsukino you can chuckle right along with it :)

..::Tsuki no Usagi::..

Unless you've been living under a rock you're whole life, it's reasonable to assume you've heard of the man in the moon. The japanese don't see it that way though....When they look at the moon, they see a rabbit pounding rice cakes. I didn't get it at first....haha, i STILL can't see the man in the moon either, but I knew i definitely could not find a rabbit, much less a rabbit making rice cakes. i finally decided to do a little more research on it though, and what I found was a wonderful, but sad little tale. Here are 2 images I found online....the first showing the moon up close, and the second highlights the craters and other lunar landscapes that make up the rabbit.

Looking at it like this, it certainly does look more like a rabbit than it does any man I've ever seen (~_^) The story behind this rabbit is a buddhist tale, and goes something like this. Long ago, there was a rabbit, a fox and a monkey. They believed they had been reincarnated into animals for past sins committed as humans, so they made a pact with each other to live good lives helping others. A god from the heavens above looked at them with disbelief....he thought that there was so much hatred and anger in the world of humans that not even these animals would be able to show compassion. He decided to give them a test. This god disguised himself a a poor weak old man, laid in the road near the home of these animals and pretended to be near death. When the animals came upon him, he begged for their help and food. The monkey and the fox ran away and came back with wonderful things, but the tiny rabbit was unable to bring back anything. So the rabbit asked the monkey and the fox to build a fire...they did so, but they were a little angry with the rabbit because they felt as if he had contributed nothing and not held up his end of the pact. But the rabbit had other plans. He was so ashamed he had not been able to bring the poor old man any food that he threw himself into the fire so that the old man could eat him. The god was so impressed by this selfless act, that he decided to immortalize the rabbit on the moon forever. Now, The people of Japan celebrate the Rabbit of the Moon every year in autumn. "Otsukimi", or moon viewing, is a time to go out and view beauty of the full moon, as well as appreciate all the things you have in life. (n_n)

So, now you know!