noun
moon-viewing party
Archaic term for a traditional gathering to appreciate the moon, especially the harvest moon. Modern Japanese more commonly uses 月見 (つきみ) or お月見.
平安時代の貴族は観月会を開いて和歌を詠んだ。
Heian-era nobles held moon-viewing parties and composed waka poems.
Modern standard term for moon-viewing, often referring to the autumn harvest moon festival. 観月会 is an archaic, more formal or literary variant.
Compound of 観月 (moon-viewing) + 会 (gathering). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the term appears in classical contexts.