Golden Week (Japan)
Encyclopedia
, often abbreviated to simply GW and also known as or is a Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 term applied to the period containing the following public holidays:
  • April 29

}, until 1988
}, from 1989 until 2006
}, from 2007
  • May 3

}
  • May 4

}, from 1985 until 2006
}, from 2007
  • May 5

}, also customarily known as .
†: "kokumin no kyūjitsu" or "citizen's holiday" is a generic term for any official holiday. May 4 was until 2007 an unnamed but official holiday because of a rule that converts any day between two holidays into a new holiday.

Note that May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....

 (on May 1) is not a public holiday. Instead, Japan has Labour Thanksgiving Day
Labour Thanksgiving Day
is a national holiday in Japan. It takes place annually on November 23. The law establishing the holiday cites it as an occasion for commemorating labor and production and giving one another thanks....

, a holiday with a similar purpose. When a public holiday lands on a Sunday, the next day that is not already a holiday becomes a holiday for that year.

History

The National Holiday Laws, promulgated in July 1948, declared nine official holidays. Since many were concentrated in a week spanning the end of April to early May, many leisure-based industries experienced spikes in their revenues. The film industry was no exception. In 1951, the film Jiyū Gakkō
Shishi Bunroku
Bunroku Shishi was a Japanese writer and director of the Bungakuza Theater in Tokyo....

recorded higher ticket sales during this holiday-filled week than any other time in the year (including New Year's and Obon
Obón
Obón is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants....

). This prompted the managing director of Daiei Films
Kadokawa Pictures
is a Japanese movie studio.-History:One of the most famous studios in Japan and founded in 1942 as , it is best known for having produced the giant monster Gamera film series and the Daimajin Trilogy. It also produced the Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshiro film series and the television series Shōnen Jet...

 to dub the week "Golden Week" based on the Japanese radio lingo “golden time,” which denotes the period with the highest listener ratings.

At the time, April 29 was a national holiday celebrating the birth of the Shōwa Emperor
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...

. Upon his death in 1989, the day was renamed "Greenery Day."

In 2007, Greenery Day
Greenery Day
is a Japanese holiday. Between 1989 and 2006 it was celebrated on April 29. In 2007 Greenery Day was moved to May 4.The present observation of Greenery Day as a national holiday in Japan stems from the celebration of the Emperor Shōwa's birthday on April 29 every year during the Shōwa era...

  was moved to May 4, and April 29 was renamed Shōwa Day
Showa Day
is a Japanese annual holiday held on April 29. It honors the birthday of the Shōwa Emperor , the reigning Emperor from 1926 to 1989. The purpose of the holiday is to encourage public reflection on the turbulent 63 years of Hirohito's reign.-History:...

 to commemorate the late Emperor.

Current practice

Many Japanese take paid time off on the intervening work days, but some companies also close down completely and give their employees time off. Golden Week is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese jobs. Two other holidays may also be observed for most or all of a week: Japanese New Year
Japanese New Year
The is one of the most important annual festivals, with its own unique customs, and has been celebrated for centuries. Due to the importance of the holiday and the preparations required, the preceding days are quite busy, particularly the day before, known as Ōmisoka.The Japanese New Year has been...

 in January and Bon Festival
Bon Festival
or just is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed...

 in August. Golden Week is an extremely popular time to travel. Flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked despite significantly higher rates at this time. Popular foreign destinations in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, and major cities on the west coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, such as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, as well as in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, are affected during these seasons by huge numbers of Japanese tourists.

External links

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