Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/100

64 festivals of the dead, and are especially observed for the worship of the Imperial ancestors. The Emperor Kōmei was the father of the present Emperor, and reigned from 1847 to 1867. "Four Sides' Worship" naturally suggests worship from the four principal directions. This and the "First Beginning Festival" make the special New Year's holidays.

Besides these, there are a great many local, class, and religious holidays, including Sunday, so that comparatively few persons in Japan are kept under high pressure, but almost every one has frequent opportunities to relax from the tension of his occupation or profession. Even the poorest, who have to be content with a hand-to-mouth existence, take their occasional holidays.

The five great festivals of the year fall on the first day of the first month (New Year's Day), the third day of the third month (Dolls' Festival), the fifth day of the fifth month (Feast of the Flags), the seventh day of the seventh month (Festival of the Star Vega), and the ninth day of the ninth month (Chrysanthemum Festival). These are now officially observed according to the Gregorian calendar, but may also be popularly celebrated according to the old lunar calendar, and would then fall from three to seven weeks later. And there are not a few people who are perfectly willing to observe both calendars and thus double their number of holidays!

The greatest of these is the New Year's holiday