Autumn Higan · Higan

Culture of origin: Buddhist · Cultural

Holiday sources: Buddhism

The autumn Higan is the second of Japan's two weeks of "the other shore", the Japanese reading of a Chinese term for nirvana: seven days from three days before to three days after the equinox, kept by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. People return to their home towns to pay their respects to their ancestors, with ceremonies at the family tomb. The equinox itself, Shubun no Hi, is a national holiday "to honour one's ancestors and remember those who have died"; the National Astronomical Observatory announces its date each February for the following year.