Guest Author - Sherry Van Der Elst

The Autumn Equinox Day, or Shubun no Hi, falls around the 23rd of September. It's one of Japan's most traditional national holidays, marking the change of seasons and also a day of remembering the dead. Many Japanese families visit their family graves on this day to pay respect to their ancestors and offer them gifts of flowers, incense and ohagi--sweet rice balls rolled in red bean paste.