Higan

Higan ( 彼岸 «,“ the other shore ”) is a Buddhist Japanese holiday celebrated annually during the spring and autumn equinox . It begins to be celebrated three days before the equinox and ends three days after. Higan, along with the New Year in winter and the Bon festival in summer, is a celebration of the veneration of ancestors, during which memorial services are performed.

Higan - ancestral commemoration time

According to Buddhist beliefs, the afterlife and the earthly worlds are separated by the Sanzu River ( я 途 の 川 Sanzu-no kava ) . The river consists of illusions, suffering and sorrow, only one who can defeat all the temptations that met him on his life path can get to the opposite bank and gain enlightenment. Various ceremonies are held in Higan to help the soul overcome the path from the west, from the world of “confusion and disorder”, to the east, to the world of “enlightenment”. The weeks of Higan, apparently, were confined to the days of the equinox because the day on these days is equal to the night, and the sun rises exactly in the east. In Japan, there is a proverb: “ Heat and cold end in Higan ”, which means a change of seasons, the Japanese hope that cold winters and hot summers recede during a visit to the graves ^[1] .

The tradition of conducting a religious ceremony in the equinox dates back to the reign of Prince Sotoku . For seven days of Hygan, all families, including the imperial, visited temples and family cemeteries, performed memorial rites. The graves were put in order, the deceased brought fresh flowers and special food, performed a prayer, lit smoking, and then arranged something like a picnic in the cemetery. The ritual of cooking the dead gave rise to the custom of treating friends and neighbors with special food. They don’t eat meat during Higan. The main diet consists of o-hagi ( お は ぎ ぎ ) - soft, covered with sweet bean paste, rice balls; botamoti ( 牡丹 餅 “peony mochi” ) - rice cakes wrapped in red bean dough, similar in color to peony ; homokuzuki - rice with vegetables and seasonings ^[2] .

Heagan weeks are not public holidays, while equinoxes are official public holidays and weekends. They became public holidays during the Meiji period . At that time, the equinoxes were primarily the Autumn ( Jap. Ю Xiu: ki ) and Spring ( Jap. 春季 Sünky ) commemoration of the ancestors of the imperial family ( Jap. 皇 霊 祭 Ko: reisai ) . After the defeat in World War II, the days of the equinox began to be seen as the holidays of worshiping the ancestors of all people. In 1948, a new law on public holidays was adopted; it describes them as follows:

• The vernal equinox ( 春分 の 日 Syumbun-no hee ) is the day of “Glorification of nature and the manifestation of love for living beings” ^[3] . In different years it is celebrated either on March 20 or on March 21 .
• The day of the autumnal equinox ( 秋分 の 日 Xu: bun-no hee ) is the day of "Honoring the ancestors, preserving the memory of the dead" ^[3] . In 2000–2010, it was celebrated on September 23, from 2012 to 2044 in leap years it is celebrated on September 22, in other years, September 23.

On Higan, the equinoxes are also called Tunichi ( Jap. 中 日 tu: threads , "middle day") , as they are located in the middle of the celebration ^[2] .