30/04/2025
OkiLife!! Golden Week, Japan’s Mega Holiday
Public offices, banks, and many companies will close during the much anticipated Golden Week. No doubt that you will see people on the move as they gear up to hit their holiday hot spots. Along with New Years and Obon, Golden Week is one of the busiest holiday seasons during the year. It is collection of four national holidays occurring within seven days placed between back to back weekends. Trains, airports and sightseeing spots tend to get very crowded during this time, as tourist accommodations are usually booked out well in advance.
This year Golden Week will officially begin on Tuesday, April 29th Showa Day (Showa-no-hi). This is the birth date of the Emperor Showa, who died in 1989. Prior to 2006, this day was reserved for Greenery Day, which was used to show gratitude and respect towards nature, but it was mainly due to Emperor Showa’s love for nature that Greenery Day was instituted.
The next holiday is followed by Kenpō Kinenbi, better known as Constitution Day which falls on May 3rd. It was on this day in 1947, that the new post war constitution was put into effect. The third holiday of Golden Week is the aforementioned Greenery Day or Midori-no-hi, which was moved from April 29th to May 4th. Prior to being designated as Greenery Day, May 4th was considered a national holiday simply by Japanese law, which declared that any day that fell between two national holidays shall be recognized as another national holiday.
This gives us our final holiday of Golden Week, May 5th, which is Children’s Day or Kodomo-no-hi. The Boy’s Festival, Tango no Sekku, is also celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power, and good fortune in life. The Girl’s Festival is celebrated on March 3rd.
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