回忌
かいき
kaiki
= death anniversary; Buddhist memorial service held on the anniversary of a death
回忌 (kaiki) is a Buddhist term used to count the anniversary memorial services held for the deceased. It appears in set phrases like 一周忌 (isshuuki, the first anniversary) and 三回忌 (sankaiki, the third-year memorial), each marking a milestone in the Japanese cycle of remembrance.
回忌 functions as both a noun and a counting suffix attached to numerals to specify which anniversary memorial service is being observed. The first death anniversary uses the special form 一周忌 (isshuuki) rather than 一回忌. From the second onward, the pattern switches to 三回忌, 七回忌, 十三回忌, and so on. These are formal, Buddhist-inflected terms used in ceremonial contexts — on invitations, in conversation with relatives, and in obituary notices. The register is consistently formal and respectful; casual substitutes are rarely used when discussing these rites.
The most common point of confusion is the counting system. The first anniversary is called 一周忌 (isshuuki), not 一回忌, because it marks exactly one full cycle (周) of the year. The second death anniversary is called 三回忌 (sankaiki) — not 二回忌 — because Japanese traditional counting includes the year of death itself as year one. This means 三回忌 falls on what most Westerners would call the second anniversary. Keeping this offset in mind prevents errors when reading invitations or discussing family memorial schedules.
回 carries the meaning of “revolving” or “returning” (as in 回転, rotation) and is read めぐる in native Japanese. 忌 means mourning or a taboo day of death (忌日, kibi), read いむ or き, conveying the sense of a day set apart for grief. Together, 回忌 literally means “the mourning day that comes around again” — a poetic description of an anniversary that returns on the calendar each year to renew the act of remembrance.
Everyday use
来月、祖父の三回忌を家族で営む予定です。
Raigetsu, sofu no sankaiki wo kazoku de itomau yotei desu.
We plan to hold my grandfather’s third-year memorial service as a family next month.
Casual / Social Media
今週末は父の七回忌で、久しぶりに親戚が集まります。
Konshuumatsu wa chichi no nanakaiki de, hisashiburi ni shinseki ga atsumarimasu.
This weekend is my father’s seventh-year memorial, so relatives are getting together for the first time in a while.
Formal / Cultural context
謹んでご案内申し上げます。故 田中一郎 十三回忌法要を下記のとおり執り行います。
Tsutsushinde go-annai moushiagemasu. Ko Tanaka Ichiro juusankaiki houyo wo kaki no toori toriookonaimasu.
We humbly inform you that the thirteenth-year memorial service for the late Ichiro Tanaka will be held as detailed below.
In Japanese Buddhist tradition, 年忌法要 (nenki houyo) — the cycle of anniversary memorial services — follows a set schedule that extends for decades after a person’s death. Key milestones include 一周忌 (first anniversary), 三回忌 (second year after death), 七回忌 (sixth year), 十三回忌 (twelfth year), 三十三回忌 (thirty-second year), and in some traditions 五十回忌 (forty-ninth year). The thirty-third or fiftieth anniversary is often considered the final 弔い上げ (tomuiage), the point at which the individual spirit is believed to have merged with the collective ancestral spirits and formal annual rites conclude.
The custom reflects a distinctly Japanese understanding of the relationship between the living and the dead. Gathering family members for 回忌 is not only a religious obligation but a social occasion that reinforces kinship bonds across generations. Temples issue formal invitations, family members travel from across the country, and a meal together after the ceremony is standard. For many Japanese families, 回忌 ceremonies are among the few occasions when all branches of an extended family reliably assemble in one place.