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What you need to know:

This year's fall equinox happens on 23rd September

Japan celebrates Fall Equinox as a public holiday.

The Fall Equinox usually happens on either 23 or 24th September and is a public holiday. The festival not only celebrates the coming of autumn, but also serves as a time of rememberence for ancestors.

Japan Fall Equinox History

Fall Equinox Day is one of the most established Japanese National Holidays.Old Japanese traditions believe that this holiday has a double origin.Some believe that this holiday originated from the agricultural society of Old Japan to celebrate the changing of the seasons. This day is usually when both night and day have even lengths.Due to leap year, the actual date of the Fall Equinox Day may change from year to year, but is generally around September 23rd. From this day for the rest of the year, nights become longer and days shorter.

The festival is also known in Japan as Higan No Chu-Nichi'.The other origin of this holiday is believed to be based on Buddhist traditions. Since Buddhist teaching says that the week of Higan ought to be for sweeping tombs and paying respects to dead relatives, it's possible that this is the real origin of the holiday.People clean their family graves and bring flowers, incense and traditional Japanese food.Especially popular is round-shaped food!

Popular traditions and customs

The Japanese, in common with so many other socities around the world, often use this time to pay respects to their deceased elders.This is one of the times when families have the chance to pull out the weeds and clean up the graves. In total the festival lasts a whole week, which divides the Spring and Fall.

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