八月（hachi gatsu）： August

A new month has started. August is hachi gatsu(八月) in Japanese. Its old name is ha zuki(葉月), literally leaf month.
August is the hottest month and there are so many festivals here and there in Japan.
They say today is kanko no hi(観光の日), day of sightseeing, which was established by the Prime Minister's Office (now the Cabinet Office) in 1965. From Aug. 1 to 7 is the Sightseeing Week which was established by the Prime Minister's Office in May 1965 and practiced. However it has been practiced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport since 2001.
In 1965 since July was the month of sightseeing set by the United Nations, a week from July 7 was decided as a sightseeing week, but since 1966 it has been moved to August because there are more tourists in August.
August is a time of summer vacation. However different from the United States, in Japanese schools it is still in the middle of school year, therefore students have lots of homework to do at home. They can't enjoy the summer vacation from the bottom of their heart. Japanese school summer vacation in the mainland is usually about 40 days from the middle of July to the end of August.
Working people usually take some days off in the middle of August, and many people go back to their home town to visit their ancestor's grave. This time is called o bon(お盆).