ABSTRACT
The next point to be discussed is the worship of the Ancestors of a House. The occasions for the celebration of house-worship may be classed under three categories: the Sacrifice-days, the Sacrifice-months, and the Sacrifice-years. The Sacrifice-day, or kinichi, is the day in each month corresponding to the day of an ancestor's death. For instance, if the death occurred on the fifth day of a month, the kinichi would be celebrated on the fifth of every month. The Sacrifice-month, or shō-tsuki, is the day of the month corresponding to the day and month of an ancestor's death. Thus, if the death occurred on the fifth of September, the shō-tsuki would be observed on the fifth of every September. The Sacrifice-year, or nen-ki, is the day of the month in certain years, corresponding to the day of the month of the death of an ancestor, the ceremony of worship in connection with it usually taking place among the Shintōists on the first, fifth, tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth and hundredth year. After the hundredth year, the anniversary is usually celebrated every fiftieth year. Among the Buddhists, these anniversary ceremonies are usually observed on the first, third, seventh, thirteenth, seventeenth, twenty-third, twenty-seventh, thirty-third, thirty-seventh, forty-third, forty-seventh, fiftieth, and hundredth years, after which period they are held every fiftieth year as in the case of the Shintōists.
