You can balance an egg today

Last Monday was a holiday in Japan, called 「敬老の日」 (“Respect For The Elderly Day“). On this day, people often give gifts to their elderly parents or grandparents. Many kindergartens invite grandparents to have lunch at the school with their grandchildren.

Shoulder massages are common "gifts" to grandparents on this day.

Today is another holiday in Japan…「秋分の日」 (“Autumn Equinox“).  On this day in Japan, and on the 「春分の日」 (“Spring Equinox“) in March, it is common for people to visit their family graves to pay respects.  This custom is called 「彼岸の中日」 (“Higan-no-chuu-nichi“).

The actual date of 「春分の日」 (Spring Equinox) and 「秋分の日」 (Autumn Equinox) varies slightly. Spring Equinox is around March 20 or 21 and Autumn Equinox is usually September 22 or 23. I read online that in 1931, the Autumn Equinox occurred on September 24 and the next time it will occur on that date will be in the year 2303.

But in Japan, 「春分の日」 (Spring Equinox) is always celebrated on March 20th and 「秋分の日」 (Autumn Equinox) is always on September 23rd. The only time the dates change is when one of those dates fall on a Sunday…then the holiday is observed the next day.

「敬老の日」 (“Respect For The Elderly Day“) is celebrated on the third Monday of September. Last year that holiday and 「秋分の日」 (Autumn Equinox) were only one day apart, so the Japanese government made the day between them a one-time temporary holiday so that most people in Japan could have a five-day holiday period that was called “Silver Week“.
(I wrote a post about last year’s “Silver Week” here.)

Yesterday someone asked me if the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes were holidays in America like they are in Japan, and how they’re observed in America.

I know that Spring and Autumn Equinox, as well as Summer and Winter Solstice in June and December, aren’t legal holidays in America. But they’re considered the date that the seasons change. Americans say that the first day of Winter is around December 21, the first day of Spring is around March 20, the first day of Summer is around June 21 and the first day of Autumn is around September 23.
So, in America, today is the first day of Autumn.

In Japan, the first day of every three months is considered to be the beginning of the next season.
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn each start on December 1st, March 1st, June 1st and September 1st, respectively.

But maybe the American dates are more accurate. Because yesterday was a very hot and sunny day in Tokyo. It was about 33°C.
But today is a bit cold and rainy. The temperature dropped down to 23°C! And tomorrow is forecast to be even colder…20°C.

Another thing that is said about the equinoxes in America is that they are the only days of the year that you can balance on egg upright.

I don’t know where that came from. But it’s an American urban legend that eggs can be easily balanced on the day of an equinox.

How is Autumn Equinox (and Spring Equinox) celebrated in your country?

(Also, if you want to know more about Japanese holidays, read my F.A.Q.).

秋分の日

Today is 「秋分の日」 (“Autumn Equinox“).

In Japan, both 「秋分の日」 (“Autumn Equinox“) in September and 「春分の日」 (“Vernal Equinox“) in March are holidays (Click here to read my short FAQ about Vernal Equinox and here for the one about Autumn Equinox).

The time around 「秋分の日」 (“Autumn Equinox“) and 「春分の日」 (“Vernal Equinox“) are both called 「お彼岸」 (“O-higan“).

There’s a type of Lily flower that grows around the 「お彼岸」 (“O-higan“) period in both Spring and Autumn. So it’s called 「彼岸花」 (“Higan-bana”) in Japanese.

「彼岸花」 (Higan-bana)

And there’s a Japanese expression:

暑さ寒さも彼岸まで

It means “Both the hot weather and the cold weather ends at O-higan.”

「お墓参り」 (O-haka-mairi (visiting the family gravesite)) is tradition at 「お彼岸」 (“O-higan“).
And that’s what we did today.
Then we went on a bike ride around the river because the weather was nice today.

Silver week has begun

Today is the first day of a five-day holiday period in Japan that’s being called “Silver Week“.
In late April – early May every year, is a similarly long holiday period called “Golden Week“…but this is the first time there’s a “Silver Week“.

It’s because Monday, September 21 is a holiday called 「敬老の日」 (“Respect For The Elderly Day“) and Wednesday, September 23 is another holiday, 「秋分の日」 (Autumn Equinox).
Since most people have Saturday and Sunday off, and then Monday and Wednesday are holidays…the government made Tuesday a filler-holiday (being called 「国民の休日」 (“Residents’ Holiday“)) to make it a full five days off.

September 2009 calendar

(If you want to read my FAQ about Japan’s holidays, then click here.)

Every year, “Golden Week” in the springtime is good for business for stores, hotels, airlines and bullet trains in Japan…so I heard that if “Silver Week” proves to be as profitable, it may remain as regular holiday period every year.

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On a different subject, the oldest elephant in a Japanese zoo, the 62-year old Umeko, died last Thursday.

Umeko having a cake for her 60th birthday two years ago.

Now, the oldest elephant is Hanako in the Inokashira Zoo in Tokyo. She’s also 62 years old.

Hanako, the oldest elephant in Japan

My family saw Hanako two years ago for her 60th birthday celebration.