How are you? How is the weather over there? It's getting more comfortable here in Japan.
Do you know the Japanese saying "Atsusa Samusa mo Higan made”？
That means neither summer heat nor winter cold lasts beyond the equinox week.
Autumn Equinox Day, one of the national holidays, is around September 23rd.
It is the middle day of the equinoctial week called ”Higan.”
(In spring, we have the other Higan around the spring equinox.)
Higan means the other side of the river, which flows between this world and the other world, you know, heaven.
Most Japanese believe that the spirits of ancestors come to see us during Higan.
So we usually visit the graves of our ancestors and place food offerings for them.
Popular offering is "Ohagi," a kind of Japanese bean cake.
We offer the same bean cake during Spring Higan, but interestingly, it is called different name, "botamochi."
Botamochi is named because it looks like ”botan" flower, tree-peony.
On the other hand, ohagi looks like "hagi" or bush clover.
Strictly speaking, botamochi is made with smooth sweet bean paste, while ohagi is made with mashed one.
"Azuki" red bean is believed to keep off evil, so Japanese eat ohagi or botamochi during Higan.
How do you spend this equinoctial week in your country?😊
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