Annual events - Annual events

Japanese: 年中行事 - ねんちゅうぎょうじ

A ritual customarily held at a certain time each year. Originally it was a day to stop working in order to worship the gods. The word originates from a chart showing annual events held at the Imperial Court so that people would not forget them. In China it was called Saiji or Yue Ling. There are annual events held at the Imperial Court, for the nobility, for the samurai, and among the general public, and all of them are a mixture of rituals unique to Japan and those imported from the continent, but the Imperial Court events are relatively more influenced by the continent, while the general public's events are often derived from relatively unique agricultural rituals. At the Imperial Court, the official date is Sakutan Shogatsu, which was imported from the continent and sets the first day of the month as New Year's Day, while among the general public, the traditional Little New Year, which is based on the full moon, is accepted. Other annual event dates include the age of the moon (the 15th night, the 23rd night, etc.), important days (days with odd numbers, such as Tango on May 5th and Tanabata on July 7th), the 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches (Hatsuuma, Koshin-ko, etc.), religious anniversaries such as those of Buddhism and Christianity, and national anniversaries.

Annual events

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Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

毎年一定の時季に慣例として行われる儀礼。本来は神をまつるため労働をやめる日。語源は宮中で年々恒例の行事を忘れぬように示した表のこと。中国では歳時，月令という。宮中や公家，武家，民間の年中行事の別があり，いずれも日本固有の儀礼と大陸輸入の儀礼とが混交しているが，宮中の行事は比較的大陸の影響が強く，民間の行事は比較的固有の農耕儀礼に由来するものが多い。宮中では朔日(さくじつ)（ついたち）を元日とする大陸輸入の朔旦正月を公式とするのに対し，民間では満月を基準にする小正月を古式とした。そのほか年中行事の日は，月齢（十五夜，二十三夜など），重日（５月５日の端午，７月７日の七夕(たなばた)など奇数の重なる月日），十干十二支（初午，庚申講など），仏教やキリスト教など宗教の記念日，国家の記念日などがある。