CULTURE: Golden Week

 "Golden Week" is a time in Japan that spans a little over a week, where several consecutive national holidays and a crafty use of vacation days (or slagging off classes) can possibly pull up to twelve days off from work or school. The name, according to Wikipedia, was coined by a Japanese film company manager in 1951 when a film released under his company scored its highest box-office ratings during the period of holidays. The manager therefore called the period of holidays "Golden Week," referring to a radio term "Golden Time" which referred to the time when the amount of station listeners was at its highest.

 The festivities kick off on the 29th of May, the "Day of Showa." This holiday was recently established in 2007 as a day for Japanese to reflect on the Showa period of Japan under Emperor Hirohito, the 29th being his birthday. The holiday "Greenery Day" was originally established on this date, but several legislative attempts to rename the holiday starting around the year 2000 would move Greenery Day to May 4th in 2007. Golden Week continues through the weekend into Monday the 3rd, "Constitution Day," a day that commemorates the establishment of the post-war American-drafted Japanese constitution. The day after that, "Greenery Day", moved to May 4th in 2007 from its original location on the Showa Emperor's birthday.  Greenery Day celebrates the harmony of man and nature. May 5th is "Children's Day," a day that was established in 1948 to encourage and celebrate the future of children and plan for their happiness. There are "carp flags" flown on houses in honor of this day. And that's the make-up of Golden Week.

 Many Japanese still have work for part-time jobs during these holidays; such was the case with many students at my school. Some people complain about how extremely busy it is, especially in terms of traveling. If you do not book a bullet train ticket well in advance of Golden Week, you are likely to be out of luck when the time comes. Travel abroad is also popular during Golden Week.

 Considering how busy most Japanese are, Golden Week is a huge deal in Japan. The way I spent my time was by traveling to the city of Nagoya, which I will discuss in detail in the next post.