Golden Week

Sunrise from our balcony

The first week of May in Japan is what is known as Golden Week. The holiday actually starts on April 29 and goes through May 5. Typically this time of year the Japanese are off of work and take trips with their families. Since Okinawa is a popular vacation spot for mainland Japanese to travel to it becomes a time of year when we Americans living here are content to stay home. The traffic is very heavy since most are off work and all the malls and attractions have specials to draw in tourists. You need to develop patience when traveling around the island this week.

So, what is Golden Week you ask? It is four holidays rolled into one week. It starts with April 29 which is the birthday of the previous Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, who reigned from 1926 until his death in 1989. Until his death the day was known as the Emperor's birthday and after he died it was called Greenery Day. It began as a day for Japan to reflect on the 63 years of Hirohito's reign. Most just look at it as a day off of work rather than reflecting on their emperor which is similar to our President's Day I would guess. In May of 2007 the holiday was changed from Greenery Day to Showa Day (its current name) and Greenery Day was moved to May 4.

May 3 is known as Constitution Day (Kenpo Kinenbi) and commemorates the day that their Post-war Constitution came into effect in 1947. It is said to be a day to reflect on the meaning of democracy and Japanese government, but...similar to our 4th of July, very little reflecting is done in lieu of spending time with the family.

Until May of 2007, May 4 was considered a National Day of rest but became Greenery Day when the Emperor's birthday was changed to Showa Day (showa no hi). Greenery Day (Midori no hi) is a day to commune with nature and be thankful for your blessings. It was originally set up on the Emperor's birthday because he was known to love plants. Typically it is just a day to expand the Golden week holidays into one full week off of work.

Carp windsocks from the nearby school

The 5th day of the fifth month--May 5 is what is known as "Boy's Day" (tango no sekku) which is a day to celebrate the male children in your family. More recently the name has been changed to "Children's Day" (kodomo no hi) to celebrate all the children in the home. It was instituted as an official Japanese holiday in 1948. On this day the families say prayers for the health and future success of their children. As you drive around town you will find carp windsocks (koinobori) hung on each house. In Japanese culture the carp represents courage and strength because of the carp's ability to swim up a waterfall as well as upstream. Parents wish for their sons to grow up healthy and strong like the wild carp. The displays of the carp flags signifies the make-up of the family living in that home. There is usually a large black flag to indicate the father and a slightly smaller large red or pink flag to represent the mother and then varying sizes of blue or pink/red flags to indicate the number of children in the home. They will also display warrior dolls or Yoroi armor sets in their homes for the boys. (Girl's Day is March 3 during which a huge collection of dolls are displayed in the home.)

On May 5th there will be Dragon boat races in Naha and one of our friends from church is on the Lady Shogun Air Force Women's Dragon Boat Team. We are so excited for her to have made the team. I hope to drive down there on Thursday to see her race. Of course, there will be pictures to follow if I get to go. I hope you all enjoy your "Golden Week" wherever you are. Plant something green for "greenery day" and hug the kids in your life on May 5.....And if you really want to get the real feel of "golden week" find a nice traffic jam to sit in and reflect on the greenery outside your car window. Sayonara for now.