Higan

Higan

Week including March 20 or 21 and week including September 23 or 24

Higan is a week of Buddhist services observed in Japan at the spring and autumn equinoxes ( see Shunbun-no-Hi and Autumnal Equinox) when day and night are of equal length.
Both equinoxes have been national holidays since the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Before World War II, they were known as koreisai, "festivals of the Imperial ancestors." After the war, when the national holidays were renamed, they became simply spring equinox and autumn equinox.
Higan is the seven-day period surrounding the equinoxes. It means the "other shore," and refers to the spirits of the dead reaching Nirvana after crossing the river of existence. Thus Higan is a celebration of the spiritual move from the world of suffering to the world of enlightenment and is a time for remembering the dead, visiting, cleaning, and decorating their graves, and reciting sutras, Buddhist prayers. O-hagi, rice balls covered with sweet bean paste, and sushi are offered. It is traditional not to eat meat during this period. Emperor Heizei instituted the celebration in 806 c.e., when he ordered a week-long reading of a certain sutra for the occasion.
In Okinawa it is a home thanksgiving festival. Barley ( omugi ) or barley cakes with brown sugar are eaten with prayers for good fortune.

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 565
HolSymbols-2009, p. 357
JapanFest-1965, p. 190