Saturday, September 19, 2020

The Holiday Weekend



This weekend, Japan will enjoy a four consecutive day holiday weekend. Monday and Tuesday are national holidays.  


Monday is Respect for the Aged Day and is observed the third Monday in September.  This is a day to honor elderly citizens and celebrate longevity. The holiday began in 1996 and was originally held on September 15th.  Since 2003, it became part of the Happy Monday holiday system to give people a long weekend.


Tuesday is Autumnal Equinox Day and is observed September 22nd or 23rd, depending on the year. This day announces the change of season. Traditionally this was a day to visit the graves of one's ancestors, but not as many people follow this ritual now. 


In a normal year, I would probably travel somewhere.  This is a good year to stay home and continue working on my stitching projects. While it is probably okay to take a trip somewhere in Japan, I think it is better to be safe than sorry.


    5 comments:

    Queeniepatch said...

    Well shops stick to the tradition of people visiting their ancestors' grave on Autumnal Equinox Day - the special arrangements of flowers (made up of chrysanthemums and carnations) for displaying at graves and Buddhist altars at home, become a lot more expensive.
    It is nice with a long holiday, enjoy it, I have to work every day.

    kiwikid said...

    I like the idea of a Respect for the Aged day, we need that here I think. Enjoy your stitching.

    Jeanie said...

    I love the idea of Respect for the Aged Day.

    Enjoy your staycation. Probably a good idea. I was supposed to be heading to England around now. I hope it will happen in 2021...

    Vireya said...

    I hope you have a very enjoyable long weekend, no matter how you spend it.

    Leonore Winterer said...

    Oh, how nice! I love that Happy Monday System. All but one of our remaining holidays for this year are falling on weekends...