Higanbana 01

During the Higan holiday in Japan, it is common to give botamochi, a Japanese sweet using Azuki beans, as an offering to ones ancestors. However, in recent years, people tend to give more varied offerings including what the deceased used to like eating or drinking. In this picture, I drew a bottle of sake as an offering with the Higan flower motive on it.

In Japan, the Autumn equinox is referred to by Buddhists as Higan. Higan is a flower but also in Buddhism it symbolises "the other side" which is a metaphor for leaving the world of confusion and desire behind and crossing over to the other side of enlightenment. It is also a metaphor for the afterlife. During Higan, people pay their respects to their ancestors by leaving botamochi, a kind of Japanese sweet made from red bean paste. This is to nourish one's ancestors in the afterlife.