Autumnal Equinox Day

Autumnal Equinox Day is a national holiday whose legal purpose is to honour ancestors and remember those who have died. As with the vernal date, it follows the actual astronomical equinox and is published in Japan’s annual official holiday calendar.

The day falls during the autumn Higan period, when many families visit graves, clean family plots and offer flowers or incense. That private practice gives a warm human dimension to a date determined by celestial movement: the equinox becomes a shared point for seasonal change and family memory.

Autumnal Equinox Day is governed by Japan’s Act on National Holidays, and the Cabinet Office’s official calendar confirms its 2026 date. A statutory national holiday falling on Sunday creates a holiday on the nearest following day that is not already a national holiday; a weekday between two national holidays is also a holiday. These rules, not an informal “Mondayisation” assumption, produce May 6 and September 22 in 2026. Bank of Japan offices additionally close from December 31 through January 3, but those banking closures do not turn December 31 or January 2–3 into national holidays for all workers and businesses.