Shuubun no hi 秋分の日 национален празник во Јапонија!

It's "Shuubun no hi" today in Japan.

Even the Kanji letter 秋 which is used in its name means autumn, Shuubun no hi it's one of national holidays in Japan that is traditionally a day when you give out respect and remember ancestors. Ironically today, many of recent Japanese, especially young ones, never know its real meaning or purpose, or misunderstanding that the day is just an equinox day in astronomy.

Another Japanese term could be heard along with this day "Shuubun no hi" is higan or o-higan. Higan is the Buddhism term that means "heaven" in western world (ie, Christian's), the opposite of real life or the world we live in.

During o-higan season in Japan, many people visit their ancestors graves and enjoy eating some kind of Japanese sweets called "Botamochi" (牡丹餅) and/or "Ohagi" (お萩) usually.




Today, those Botamochi and Ohagi are sold in supermarkets and other places during whole year, although every mother and grandmother in Japan used to make them by themselves at home before.

Botamochi (Left one is with anko あんこ red bean jam, and the right one with kinako きなこ soybean flour) *


Ohagi / Botamochi

This is also helping us to find again that "sense of season" that has been disappearing even in Japan.

Also in autmun in Japan, people enjoy viewing leaves turning red and yellow in moutains and forests, and they feel and see the season changing. This shows Japanese loves nature along with other traditional customs such as "tsukimi/o-tsukimi," "hanami/o-hanami" and others.

Thanks to / Благодарност до Takeshi Nakano за овој блог запис :)

* Picture taken from blueberryjam's flickr gallery