Japanese Phrase Picks
No.162 (4/23/10)Golden Week
By Nao H. Kauffman
Chief Editor
Every year after the cherry blossoms fill many places in Japan (mainly on the western side from the Tokyo area) people are looking forward to having a long weekend called Golden Week in conjunction with Saturday and Sunday. Usually, many western parts of Japan will have warm and sunny days that smell like the scent of early summer. A lot of people pack up their suitcases and fly out to foreign countries. The rest of the people in Japan will enjoy road trips to many destinations especially big theme parks where many children dream of going. Some may return to their hometowns just to visit their families if they did not have that chance during the New Year's holiday. Here, you can learn about some Japanese Holidays.
April 29: Showa no Hi
This was the Emperor's birthday from the Showa Period. To honor his love for nature and greenery, it was renamed as another holiday called Midori no Hi (Green Day) in 1989. Now in order to give tribute to the tumultuous era of Showa, Green Day has been moved to May 4 since 2007.
May 3: Kenpo Kinembi (Constitution Memorial Day)
This day commemorates the Constitution of Japan and Japan's hopes for the future development of the country.
May 5: Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day)
This holiday is usually for boys. Many families celebrate the healthy growth of children and display a helmet replica or samurai doll inside the house. Especially, when parents have their first son, you can find a symbol called Koinobori (carp streamers) outside the house. It means bringing luck and success into the boy's life.
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