Thank You Day

I like word play in any language. The "TH" sound in English is difficult for Japanese speakers of English because that sound doesn't happen in Japanese. March 9th (3/9) is San Kyu, or Thank You!  

free chart can be found here

I say Thank You to my students for allowing me to enjoy this little joke, while also practicing the correct "TH" sound.

Good Meat Day

I always enjoy word play (or number word play).  In Japan, there are faux holidays created because of the way numbers look or sound.    November is the 11th month and 11 looks like ii, which means good. The number 29 can be read as Ni Ku (niku) which means meat.  So, today is good meat day!

Cat Day

In Japanese, the number two is read as ni or with some stretch of the imagination nya, which is often what your children call cats - nya nya.  According to this wisdom, February 22nd or triple two,  sounds like nya nya nya, and that is why we celebrate our feline friends on this cold winter day.

Strawberry Day

The word ichi means "one" (or in this case January), while go means "five" (fifth day).  Pronounced together it is ichigo - the Japanese word for strawberry.

Good Teeth Day

Dentists love this day - Ii Ha no Hi.  The name of the day comes from 1 (i) 1 (i) and 8 (ha), ii means good and ha means teeth.

Emergency Day

September 9th is Kyukyu no Hi or Emergency Day. KyuKyu or double nine is the Japanese word for emergency. It is the day to be extra cautious and grateful for the health services we have in Japan.

Chop Sticks Day

Faux Holidays are so fun!  Today is Chopsticks Day.  Eight is Ha and four is Shi. (Eighth month, fourth day). 

Even though I've been in Japan more than seven years, people are still amazed I can eat with chopsticks. Maybe handstiching all these years have built up my chopsticks muscles, or maybe eating with chopsticks is easier than it looks!

Pear Day

The Japanese word for Pear is Nashi - Seven (July) is na and Four is shi!

Bug Day

June 4th is Bug Day - Mushi is the word for bug in Japanese - 6 is mu and 4 is shi!

Kimono Day

Gofuku is the fabric kimonos are made of, so on this day, Japan celebrates traditional clothing: 5 (go) 2 (fu) 9 (ku).

Garbage Day

May third is known as Gomi no Hi or Garbage Day.  Why, you ask? Because the Japanese word for Garbage is Gomi -- 5 is Go and 3 is Mi! 

Remember to separate everything properly.

Castle Day

I love English language word play, but the Japanese version is more difficult for me. There are a number of faux holidays that make use of words or numbers in a type of word play.  April 6 is known as Castle Day (Shiro no Hi).  Shi (4) and Ro (6) make up the Japanese word for castle, shiro.

(Osaka Castle)

(If you are interested in Japanese Castles, check out my Castle Page to see the castles I've visited.)

Thank You Day

In Japan, March 9th is known as Thank You Day because 3/9 is pronounced San Kyu in Japanese!    Little things like this make me smile.

"San Kyu" for reading my blog!