, or and Kōreisai, are days of worship in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

that began in 1878 () to pay respects to the past emperors and imperial family members. It occurred on the spring and autumn

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

es 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 National holiday may refer to: * National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment *Public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally establishe ...

Vernal Equinox Day 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 time-zones), usually March 20 or 21. The date of the holiday is not officially d ...

and

Autumnal Equinox Day 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 time zones). Due to the necessity of recent astronomical m ...

. During the event, one prayed for good harvest in the spring and said thank you for the harvest in autumn. The equinoxes were also the days of

ancestor veneration in China Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname org ...

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