Today is a national holiday called shubun no hi (秋分の日), the Autumn Equinox Day. It is a day to respect ancestors and recall the departed. It is the time to change the season. The lengths of day and night are equal today, and the day-time will be 1 minute and 15 seconds shorter every day.
There is a phrase to express at this season. That is atsusa samusa mo higan made (暑さ寒さも彼岸まで), meaning both the heat and the cold will last until the Equinox Day. The cold will last until the Spring Equinox Day, and the heat will last until the Autumn Equinox Day.
Today is the last day of the Silver Week and the middle of the equinoctial week.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
シルバーウィーク（siruba uiiku）：Silver Week
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.
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.
Monday, September 21, 2009
敬老の日（keiro no hi ）： Respect-for-the-Aged Day
Today is one of the national holidays called keiro no hi (敬老の日), Respect-for-the-Aged Day. This day was used to be on September 15 until 2002, but it has been moved to the 3rd Monday of September since 2003 to have a long weekend.
Keiro no hi was established in 1966. At that time the average life expectancy of Japanese men was 68 years old and of women was 73 years old. Now it is 79 and 86 respectively.
There are 28,980,000 senior citizens who are over 65 years old, which is 800,000 more than last year, and the percentage among all the population is 22.7%.
A quarter of Japanese women are over 65 years old.
Keiro no hi was established in 1966. At that time the average life expectancy of Japanese men was 68 years old and of women was 73 years old. Now it is 79 and 86 respectively.
There are 28,980,000 senior citizens who are over 65 years old, which is 800,000 more than last year, and the percentage among all the population is 22.7%.
A quarter of Japanese women are over 65 years old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)