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Festival Calendar Events

HIGAN

19th – 25th September 2024 Higan

22nd September 2024 Shun No Hi

Japanese

This celebration marks the autumn equinox for Japanese people. As at the spring equinox, harmony and balance are the themes; sutras are recited and the graves of relatives are visited. September 22 is the equinox, the 24-hour period when day and night are the same length, the beginning of Autumn. On this day the sun shines at the equator for 12 hours. On the next day, days begin to become shorter than nights in the Northern Hemisphere.

In the past, the autumnal equinox in Japan was called shuki–koureisai (the autumn festival of the Emperor’s spirits). On this day, the emperor worshipped his ancestors by himself. Nowadays it is called Shuubun-no-hi and is a national holiday. It is the middle day of higan, a seven day period when the people of Japan commemorate their ancestors. Memorial services often take place at Buddhist temples, and many people visit their family’s graves with offerings of rice cakes, flowers, incense sticks, and offer prayers to comfort the spirits of their ancestors. Although Buddhism is common in India and China, these countries have no similar custom.

Higan has Buddhist origins. It literally means the “other side of the river of death”. The two sides of the river represent the worlds of life and death. During these days, Japanese families honour and pray for the repose of their deceased ancestors. This is different from Obon where the spirits of the dead are said to visit the houses of their relatives. At this time of year, living relatives are the ones who visit graves. They clean the tombs and offer prayers and flowers.  They also burn incense sticks and offer sweet rice balls called Ohagi.

Higan, for Buddhists, is a good time to focus on the 6 Perfections: Dana (generosity), Sila (virtue), Ksanti (patience), Virya (effort), Dhyana (meditation, also ‘zen’), and Prajna (wisdom). Just as the worlds of death and life are separated by a river, so the Buddhists believe the 6 Perfections will be the bridge to cross from this life to Nirvana.

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