Autumnal equinox

It is time to visit the old temples and admire nature. (Bedoin Temple)Heat and cold until the days of Hegan. It is said in Japan during both the autumn and spring equinox days.

On the day of the autumn equinox, Japan celebrates not so much a unique astronomical phenomenon as it performs the rites of the Buddhist holiday Higan* that go into the depths of history. According to the "Law on National Holidays" on the day of the autumn equinox, the corresponding meaning is attached: "Respect ancestors, honor the memory of those who have passed into the other world."

The legal day for the celebration was established in 1948, and it falls, according to Japanese sources, “about September 23.” The exact date of the autumn equinox for the next year is determined by the National Observatory on February 1 of this year, making appropriate celestial measurements and calculations. Astronomers have already calculated that until 2011 inclusive, the Autumn Equinox Day** will fall on September 23, and from 2012 to 2044: in leap years - on September 22, and in ordinary years - on September 23.

But back to the holiday of Higan, the customs of which fill the life of the Japanese in these autumn days. The Buddhist term “higan” can be translated as “that shore”, that is, the world where our ancestors left and where their souls settled. The Autumn Hegan Days are a week that includes three days before and after the Autumn Equinox and the Autumn Equinox itself. Before the beginning of Higan, the Japanese conduct a thorough cleaning of the house, especially the home altar with photos and accessories of departed ancestors, refresh flowers, exhibit ritual dishes and offerings. In the days of Higan, Japanese families go to worship the graves of their ancestors, order prayers and provide the necessary ritual honors.

Inari-sushi is the perfect food for vegetarians.

Ritual dishes are prepared exclusively vegetarian - a reminder of the Buddhist prohibition to kill a living creature and eat the meat of a killed person. The menu consists of beans, vegetables, mushrooms, broths are also prepared on a plant basis. On the table are necessarily present and inari-sushi ***, which these days are stuffed with carrots, mushrooms and beans. Of the sweets - traditional ohagi-moti **** or just ohagi. In former times, they were served for a meager afternoon in peasant families, and in our time have become a favorite dessert of the Japanese.