This article is about the Japanese holiday. For the general topic, see Equinox.
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Vernal Equinox Day
Official name
春分の日 (Shunbun no Hi)
Observed by
Japan
Type
Public
Significance
Marks the vernal equinox in Japan Standard Time
Celebrations
Worship at public shrines, traditional ceremony (Kokutai Cult), rites performed among the Imperial households
Date
March equinox
Frequency
Annual
Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日, Shunbun no Hi) 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 declared until February of the previous year, due to the need for recent astronomical measurements.
Vernal Equinox Day became a public holiday in 1948. Prior to that it was the date of Shunki kōreisai (春季皇霊祭), an event relating to Shinto. Like other Japanese holidays, this holiday was repackaged as a non-religious holiday for the sake of separation of religion and state in Japan's postwar constitution.
Pre-1945 State Shinto or Kokka Shinto is defined as the Shinto activities surrounding the support of government ideals that the government would have control over. These include day to day worship at public shrines and their messages, traditional ceremony (Kokutai Cult) and rites performed among the Imperial households, and shrines specifically symbolizing the death of fallen soldiers in battle.
On December 15, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur introduced what would later be called the Shinto Directive. The order was a directive titled the “Abolition of Governmental Sponsorship, Perpetuation, Control, and Dissemination of State Shinto″. This however was difficult due to the Emperor being at the center of many Shinto rituals. The purpose of the mandate was to separate State Shinto and Shrine Shinto which would be separating all government ties to the control of religious activities while supporting public shrines available to everyone and would be supported privately. This would later on be a part of the new Japanese constitution ratified in 1948.
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