The Road Home Under the Moon
A Korean Holiday of Homecoming, Memory, and the Full Moon
Each autumn, train seats vanish and highways fill as Koreans head home. The occasion is Chuseok, a Korean holiday often compared to Thanksgiving. Its defining image may be the journey itself.
For many families, Chuseok is a time to reunite, share food, and remember those who came before them. Some visit ancestral graves or hold memorial rites. Others gather around a crowded table, catching up between dishes.
One traditional food is songpyeon, a small rice cake filled with ingredients such as sesame seeds or beans. Families may make them together, pressing each piece into a half-moon shape. No two look quite alike.
The moon matters, too. Chuseok falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar—September 25 in 2026—when the moon is full. In older farming communities, the holiday marked the autumn harvest and gave families a chance to give thanks.
Today’s Chuseok also has its complications. Travel is costly, and holiday preparations often fall unevenly on women. Some people spend the break traveling, resting, or meeting friends instead of returning to a family home.
For Koreans living overseas, the journey may happen through a phone screen. A video call crosses the distance; a home-cooked dish brings back a familiar taste. Home can be an address, but it can also be a voice.
That is what makes Chuseok recognizable far beyond Korea. Under the same autumn moon, people find different ways to return—to family, to memory, or simply to the feeling of being welcomed somewhere.
Image caption: On the road home for Chuseok, a family pauses beneath the full moon. Illustration.
By Charles J. B.
