Japan History and Culture

Japan annual event
The full list of national holidays is as follows:

January 1 (national holiday)
New Year (shogatsu)

The second Monday in January
Coming 0f Age day or Adult’s Day (Seijin-no hi)

February 3
Beginning of spring (setsubun)

February 11 (national holiday)
National Foundation Day (kenkoku kinenbi)

February 14
Valentine’s Day

March 3
Doll’s Festival (hina matsuri)

March 14

White Day

March 20 or 21
Vernal Equinox (Shunbun-no hi)

April 29 (national holiday)
Showa Day (Showa no hi)

May 3 (national holiday)
Constitution Day (kenpo kinenbi)

May 4 (national holiday)
Greenery Day (midori no hi)

May 5 (national holiday)

Children’s Day (kodomo no hi)

July/August 7
Star Festival (tanabata)

The third Monday in July
Marine Day (Umi-no hi)

July/August 13-15
Obon

Third Monday of September (national holiday)
Respect for the Aged Day (keiro no hi)

Around September 23 (national holiday)
Autum Equinox Day (shubun no hi)

Second Monday of October (national holiday)
Health and Sports Day (taiiku no hi)

November 3 (national holiday)
Culture Day (bunka no hi)

November 15
Seven-Five-Three (shichigosan no hi)

November 23 (national holiday)
Labour Thanksgiving Day (kinro kansha no hi)

December 23 (national holiday)
Emperor’s Birthday (tenno no tanjobi)

December 24-25
Christmas

December 31
New Year’s Eve (omisoka)

If a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will also be a holiday. If a day lies between two national holidays, the day will also be turned into a holiday.

admin on November 16th, 2008 | File Under Japanese Culture, Japanese Festival | No Comments -

The ceremony of Coming-of-Age Day. (Seijin-no-hi, ????)

The Japanese Coming of Age Ceremony (Seijin shiki or Seijin no hi) is a Japanese annual event, which takes place on the second Monday of January (it used to be celebrated always on January 15 until the year 1999), on January 15 th is a national holiday. On this day, men and women who have had their twentieth birthdays during the year are proclaimed to become adults and they are eligible to vote, to smoke and drink, if they wish. Along with the bestowal of many new rights, they also must bear the responsibilities of adults.

As styles of ceremonies are different from region to region, it is common for 20-year-olds dressed in formal outfits including many young women usually wear brightly colored, gorgeous kimono called “furisode”(swinging sleeves) and the young men don new suits to attend the celebrations held in their hometown and visit shrines. Today, Many young men wear western style suits, but if you`re lucky, you might see one in a formal black kimono with five mon (family crests), hakama, and haori (samarai style).

Local governments usually have a ceremony known as a seijin shiki (adult ceremony) to honor the “new adults”. The ceremony is generally held in the morning and all of the young adults maintaining residency in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the new adults. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the government gives the new adults a money gift.

After the ceremony, the young adults often gather in groups and go to parties or go out drinking. Young women not used to wearing the slippers known as zori can often be seen limping as the afternoon wears on and evening approaches. Later in the evening, it is not unusual to see wobbly young adults staggering in the trains, heading happily home after a day of celebration

admin on November 1st, 2008 | File Under Japanese Culture, Japanese Festival | No Comments -