were established by the of 1948 (as amended). A provision of the law establishes that when a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next working day shall become a public holiday, known as . Additionally, any day that falls between two other national holidays shall also become a holiday, known as . May 4, sandwiched between

Constitution Memorial Day is a public holiday in Japan. It takes place on May 3 in celebration of the enactment of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It is a part of the collection of holidays known as Golden Week. History After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 19 ...

on May 3 and

Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

on May 5, was an annual example of such a holiday until it was replaced by

Greenery Day The present observation of as a public holiday in Japan stems from the celebration of the birthday of the Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito, who lived from 1901 to 1989) on April 29 every year during the Shōwa era (1926 - 1989). In 1989, following the ...

in 2007. Prior to Japan's adoption of the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

in 1873, the dates of holidays were based on the traditional

Chinese lunisolar calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

. Thus, New Year's Day, for example, was celebrated at the beginning of spring, as it is in modern China,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Japan has 16 national, government-recognized holidays. Also, although it is not an official holiday, most companies voluntarily designate a holiday from December 29 to January 3, and depending on the industry, it is a holiday from Christmas Eve to January 5. This case is unique in Asia.

Table of Japanese holidays

Holidays in 2018–24

The national holidays in 2018–2024 are as follows.

Events of imperial mourning and celebration

In addition to the annual holidays listed above, certain events of celebration or mourning related to the imperial family are also treated as national holidays in the year in which they occur. There have been six instances of such holidays since the introduction of the Public Holiday Law: * April 10, 1959: Marriage of Crown Prince Akihito * February 24, 1989:

State Funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) * November 12, 1990: Official Enthronement Ceremony of the Emperor Emeritus (Akihito) * June 9, 1993: Marriage of Crown Prince Naruhito * April 30, 2019:

Abdication of Emperor Akihito The 2019 Japanese imperial transition occurred on 30 April 2019 when the then 85-year-old Akihito, Emperor Akihito of Japan abdicated from the Chrysanthemum Throne after reigning for 30 years, becoming the first Emperor of Japan to do so since ...

* October 22, 2019: Official Enthronement Ceremony of the current Emperor (Naruhito)

Recent changes

Beginning in 2000, Japan implemented the

Happy Monday System The is a set of modifications to Japanese law in 1998 and 2001 to move a number of public holidays in Japan to Mondays, creating three-day weekends for those with five-day work weeks. It is the Japanese equivalent of the 1968 Uniform Monday Holi ...

, which moved a number of national holidays to Monday in order to obtain a long weekend. * Coming-of-Age Day: January 15 → 2nd Monday of January, starting in 2000. * Marine Day: July 20 → 3rd Monday of July, starting in 2003. * Respect for the Aged Day: September 15 → 3rd Monday of September, starting in 2003. * Health and Sports Day: October 10 → 2nd Monday of October, starting in 2000. In 2006, the country added

Shōwa Day is a public holiday in Japan held on April 29. It honors the birthday of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), the reigning emperor from 1926 to 1989. Shō (昭) means “shining” or “bright”, and wa (和) means “peace”, signifying the "enlighte ...

, a new national holiday, in place of

on April 29, and to move Greenery Day to May 4. These changes took effect in 2007. In 2014, the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

decided to add to the Japanese calendar on August 11, after lobbying by the

Japanese Alpine Club The is a mountaineering and climbing organisation based in Tokyo, Japan. History The Japanese Alpine Club was founded in October 1905 as the first mountaineering club in Asia. In late 19th century modern alpinism had been imported from Europe t ...

. It is intended to coincide with the

Bon Festival or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

vacation time, giving Japanese people an opportunity to appreciate Japan's mountains. With the Japanese imperial transition, the

Emperor's Birthday is an annual Public holiday in Japan celebrating the birthday of the reigning Emperor, which is currently 23 February as Emperor Naruhito was born on that day in 1960. It is enforced by a specific law, "The Law for Special Exception of the Imper ...

was moved from December 23 to February 23 (the respective birthdays of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and

Emperor Naruhito is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

). Due to Akihito's 2019 birthday being after his abdication but Naruhito's before his accession, this holiday was not celebrated in 2019. As special arrangement for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, the 2020 dates for Marine Day, Sports Day, and Mountain Day were moved to July 23, July 24, and August 10 respectively. With the Olympics and Paralympics postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government left this change in place for 2020 and passed an amendment to the Olympic and Paralympic Special Measures Act to make a corresponding change to the holidays in 2021, moving them to July 22, July 23, and August 9 respectively.

Notes

References

Works cited

* ''

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mil ...

'', 6th edition

External links

Japanese Holidays - Japan-Guide.com

Public holiday law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Holidays In Japan

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Holidays A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...