Today is a national holiday called kokumin no kyujitsu(国民の休日), Citizen's holiday. This happens when there is only one non-holiday in between two public holidays.
This year the Respect for the Aged Day falls on Monday 21, and the Autumnal Equinox Day is on Wednesday 23, therefore today September 22 becomes a national holiday. Therefore we have 5 days weekend from September 19 to 23. This happened for the first time this year.
This long weekend is now called the Silver Week. "Silver" is commonly used to mean the elderly people , deriving from their gray hair. For example, there is a priority seat for elderly people in a bus or train, they are often called "silver seat" in Japan. The long weekend from April 29 to May 5 is called "Golden Week."
The term Silver Week is a new term for us and chosen because of the comparison of golden week, and the Respect for the Aged Day is included during this time therefore symbolic word for seniors is used.
Since we can't take a long vacation like European people, many Japanese people try to travel both inside and outside the country during these Golden Week or Silver Week. Therefore there are many traffic jams here and there.
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