Nowadays it is a 'shinsai' (a festival presided over by the emperor himself) held at the Three Shrines in the Imperial Court (Kensho, which is also called Kashikodokoro [the Imperial Sanctuary], Korei-den [the Imperial Ancestors' Shrine], and Shinden [Shrine]) on January 3 in the Gregorian calendar to celebrate the origin of the Imperial throne.
現在では新暦1月3日、天皇が宮中三殿（賢所・皇霊殿・神殿）においてみずから主宰する「親祭」であり、皇位の元始を祝ぐ儀式である。