ハッピー・マンデー制度

Today is 「海の日」 (Sea Day) in Japan.

This is a holiday to remember the sea and all that it provides.
(Click here to read the post I wrote at last year’s 「海の日」 (Sea Day).)

Today is Monday and it’s a national holiday in Japan therefore Japan has a three-day weekend now. 「海の日」 (Sea Day) is always on a Monday, so it’s always a three-day weekend.

But it wasn’t always like this.

Actually when I first came to Japan, there was no 「海の日」 (Sea Day) holiday. There were no holidays in Japan during July at all.

This holiday started a few years after I came here. And it was always on the 20th of July.

Then about six or seven years ago, the Japanese government decided to start what is called the 「ハッピー・マンデー制度」 (“Happy Monday System“) in Japan.

Under this system, all national holidays that don’t fall on a date that can’t be changed (such as the Emperor’s Birthday, New Year’s, etc) now fall on the closest Monday.

So now 「海の日」 (Sea Day) is on the third Monday of July rather than July 20.

There are a few other holidays on the 「ハッピー・マンデー制度」 (“Happy Monday System“) as well.
These are 「成人の日」 (“Adults Day”) in January, 「敬老の日」 (“Respect For The Aged Day”), and 「体育の日」 (“Sports Day”).

Does your country have a system for holidays on a Monday to make three-day-weekends?

Three Day Weekend

昨日 (Yesterday) was 十月十日 (October 10). Until a few years ago, that day used to be 体育の日 (Sports Day). But, along with a few other 祝日 (holidays), it’s been changed to the closest 月曜日 (Monday).

Therefore, this 月曜日 (Monday) (十月十三日 (October 13)) is 体育の日 (Sports Day). So, 今日 (today) is the first day of a 三連休 (three-day weekend).

(You can see my short FAQ post about 体育の日 (Sports Day) here.)

There are many 秋祭 (Autumn Festivals) around 日本 (Japan) this weekend and next. We plan to go to a couple of them.

Today (土曜日 (Saturday)), though, we’re just staying home because our daughters need to study for exams that they’ll will have at school on 火曜日 (Tuesday).

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I’m part of “Generation X” (born in the late 1960s – late ’70s). I was in Elementary school in the 1970s and a teenager in the 1980s.
I can remember (vaguely) the election of the US President Jimmy Carter. More vividly I remember when Rubik’s Cube®, Sony Walkman® (that played cassettes), MTV®, “Nightmare On Elm Street“, and Pac-Man® were big.

Growing up I loved Star Wars, The Incredible Hulk (TV show), Knight Rider (I’ve seen an episode of that old show recently…I can’t believe I liked it as a kid!), Evel Knievel, The Fonz, and heavy metal music (some of my favorites were (and still are): KISS (see my post here), Judas Priest, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, and Scorpions).

Recognize any of those? Some things on that list were from the ’70s (until I was ten years old) and others were from the ’80s (when I was eleven years old til high school).

(BTW, all of the band logos above are copyright© of their respective owners. And I got the images from the Hard Rock Hideout website).

My three kids were born between 1993 and 1996. Their generation doesn’t remember a pre-internet or pre-cell phone world. They were too young to understand the “9/11” attacks when they occurred.

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Anyways…what was popular with you when you were growing up? (Write about it in the comments section!)