Golden Week Holidays

Tuesday, April twenty fourth, two thousand and seven

Golden Week Holidays, the holiday-studded week, is coming soon, so I have some plans to spend my free time. My family, friends and me going to have a BBQ party somewhere on the thirtieth of April and I have to take my children to Wakayama prefecture on the third or fourth of May for fishing. Of course I'm going have some English lessons as well during the week.

Speaking of Golden Week, two national holidays' names have changed, actually. April twenty nineth used to be "Greenery Day(緑の日 midori no hi)" but now the day has renamed "Day of Showa(昭和の日 showa no hi)". In Showa Era, the day used to be the national holiday, "The Birthday of the Emperor." After the Emperor - Hirohito(Showa) passed away, the Japanese government had decided to rename the holiday and keep the day as a national holiday, which was called "Greenery Day". The reason they had decided to name the day "Greenery Day" was that Hirohito was known for his interest in plants. I would say they changed the day's name again to let people understand the day's meaning easily.

May fourth used to be called just "National Holiday(国民の休日 kokumin no kyuujitsu)". The government of Japan enacted the law that the day between 2 national holidays is also a national holiday, in order to make holidays in a row. May fouthth is between "Constitution Memorial Day(憲法記念日 kenpou kinenbi)" and "Children's Day(子供の日 kodomo no hi)". That's the reason May fourth is a national holiday. However, I guess that the day is called "Greenery Day" now for giving the day a specific name.