What Is Ohigan? | Japan’s Autumn Equinox Week Runs September 20th–26th, 2026 — Seven Days for the Other Shore

In 2026, Japan’s autumn higan runs from Sunday, September 20th to Saturday, September 26th.

The middle day, Wednesday the 23rd, is Autumnal Equinox Day, a national holiday. This year the 21st is Respect for the Aged Day, and the 22nd, caught between two holidays, becomes a day off too — so for anyone with weekends free, the 19th through the 23rd is a five-day break.

If you have heard of ohigan at all, it may be as “the week people visit family graves,” which can sound like something only for those who belong. But underneath, it is simply seven days for thinking about the far shore. A word, a little calendar arithmetic, and a sweet made of rice and red beans — that is enough to get started.

What this article covers

What the word higan actually means
How the seven days are decided
Are day and night really equal at the equinox? (Not quite.)
The oldest record, and why higan is described as uniquely Japanese
Ohagi and botamochi — two names, one sweet?
The smallest possible way to take part this year

Higan means “the other shore”

Let’s untangle the word first.

Higan (彼岸) literally means “that shore” — the other side of the river. It is a Buddhist term, said to come from the Sanskrit pāramitā, which was rendered in Chinese characters as “reaching the other shore.”

If there is another shore, there is also this one. The side where we live now, with all its confusion and worry, is called shigan (此岸), “this shore.”

A river, with us on one bank. On the far bank, the people we have lost, and a calm place we would like to reach someday. That quiet, looking-into-the-distance feeling is what higan is built on.

Seven days, centred on the equinox

The higan period is the equinox day itself (called the chūnichi, “middle day”), plus three days on either side — seven days in all. There is a spring higan around the vernal equinox too, so it comes twice a year.

For 2026:

Start (higan-iri): Sunday, September 20th
Middle day (Autumnal Equinox Day): Wednesday, September 23rd
End (higan-ake): Saturday, September 26th

The equinox does not fall on the same date every year. Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory calculates it from the movement of the sun and announces it the year before. In 2026 the autumnal equinox is at 9:05 a.m. on September 23rd. A public holiday whose date is set by astronomy is a rather lovely thing.

The current rule — equinox in the middle, three days either side — dates from the Tenpō calendar of the late Edo period. Earlier calendars counted it slightly differently.

Day and night are not exactly equal

Many of us learned at school that the equinox is “the day when day and night are the same length.”

According to the National Astronomical Observatory, around the equinox the sun does rise almost due east and set almost due west. But day and night are not quite equal — the day is a little longer.

There are two reasons. Sunrise and sunset are defined as the moment the top edge of the sun touches the horizon, which adds some daylight. And the atmosphere bends light, so a sun near the horizon appears slightly higher than it really is. In the observatory’s example, on the spring equinox of 2020 in Tokyo, day lasted 12 hours 8 minutes and night 11 hours 52 minutes.

“Roughly half and half” is the most accurate way to put it.

A sunset due west, and the land beyond it

You will often hear higan linked to that westward sunset.

In Pure Land Buddhism, the paradise of Amida Buddha has traditionally been placed far away in the west. People bowed to the sun as it went down due west and thought of that distant place — that, the explanation goes, is how higan began.

It is worth holding that explanation lightly. Folklorists have also suggested that older customs of honouring the sun and one’s ancestors, from before Buddhism reached Japan, may lie underneath it. The origins are genuinely debated.

The oldest record: the year 806

The first written trace appears in the Nihon Kōki, an official history from the early Heian period.

In 806, the imperial court ordered monks at provincial temples across the country to read the Diamond Sutra for seven days centred on the spring and autumn equinoxes. It is recorded as being for the spirit of Prince Sawara — the emperor’s younger brother, who had died in disgrace and was later honoured with the title Emperor Sudō.

Higan observances are described as uniquely Japanese, with no equivalent in Indian or Chinese Buddhism. A Buddhist word for a name, but a custom that grew up inside Japan’s own calendar and daily life.

What the law says the day is for

Each of Japan’s national holidays has its purpose written into law in a single line. For Autumnal Equinox Day, it is this:

To honour one’s ancestors and remember those who have passed away.

So the middle day of higan is, even by official definition, a day for thinking of the dead.

And the five-day break? Japanese holiday law says that any ordinary day sandwiched between two national holidays becomes a holiday as well. In 2026, the 22nd falls between the 21st and 23rd, so it gets the day off too. The last time this happened in September was 2015.

Ohagi and botamochi — the same thing?

The classic higan offering is ohagi: a ball of lightly pounded rice wrapped in sweet red bean paste. In spring, it is often called botamochi.

The usual explanation is that they are essentially the same sweet, named after the flower of the season:

Botamochi — from botan, the peony, which blooms in spring
Ohagi — from hagi, bush clover, which blooms in autumn

Bush clover is one of the seven flowers of autumn, and it opens its tiny purple-pink blossoms right around the autumn higan.

There are said to be summer and winter names too: yofune, “night boat,” and kitamado, “north window.” The rice is never pounded with a mallet like proper mochi, so you can’t tell when it was pounded — tsuki in Japanese. A boat at night arrives (tsuku) without anyone noticing; a north-facing window never sees the moon (tsuki). The names are wordplay, or so the explanation goes.

You may also hear that autumn ohagi uses chunky bean paste and spring botamochi uses smooth. That is one theory; in practice it varies by region and family, and today most people don’t draw a strict line. Enjoy all of it in the spirit of “so they say.”

The smallest possible higan this year

If you can visit a family grave, that is the heart of it. But if you live far away, or don’t follow any particular religion, there are still ways to join in.

Look at the western sky in the evening. Around the equinox the sun sets almost due west. Just working out which way is west from your own window is a small discovery.

Buy one ohagi. In September it is the sweet named after bush clover. Offer it to someone, or eat it yourself.

Think of someone. The law’s line says “remember those who have passed away.” Remembering needs no tools and no place.

Finally

Higan, the other shore. Shigan, this one.

For these seven days, when day and night are roughly half and half, the sun goes down straight to the west. People more than a thousand years ago were looking in the same direction.

Somewhere in this year’s long weekend, glance toward the far shore for a moment. That is enough to take part.