Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日 Shūbun no Hi) is a public holiday in Japan that usually occurs on September 22 or 23, the date of Southward equinox in Japan Standard Time
(autumnal equinox can occur on different dates for different
timezones). Due to the necessity of recent astronomical measurements,
the date of the holiday is not officially declared until February of the
previous year. Autumnal Equinox Day became a public holiday on 1948. In
1947 and before, it was the date of Shūki kōreisai ( 秋季皇霊祭), an event relating to Shintoism.
Like other holidays, this holiday was repackaged as a non-religious
holiday for the sake of separation of religion and state in Japan's postwar constitution.
Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日 Shunbun no Hi) is a public holiday in Japan that occurs on the date of the Northward equinox in Japan Standard Time
(the vernal equinox can occur on different dates in different
timezones), usually March 20 or 21. The date of the holiday is not
officially declared until February of the previous year, due to the need
for recent astronomical measurements.
Vernal Equinox Day became a public holiday in 1948. Prior to that it was the date of Shunki kōreisai ( 春季皇霊祭), an event relating to Shintoism.
Like other Japanese holidays, this holiday was repackaged as a
non-religious holiday for the sake of separation of religion and state
in Japan's postwar constitution.
Kōreisai (皇霊祭), or Shun-ki (春季, Vernal) and Shū-ki (秋季, Autumnal) Kōreisai, are days of worship in Japan that began in 1878 (Meiji 11) to pay respects to the past emperors and imperial family members. It occurred on the spring and autumn equinoxes
of the anniversary of the person's death. After the 1948 passing of the
Act on National Holidays, these days were marked in a non-religious
manner as the national holidays of Vernal Equinox Day and Autumnal Equinox Day. During the event, one prayed for good harvest in the spring and said thankyou for the harvest in autumn. The equinoxes were also the days of ancestor veneration in China.
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