Japanese calendar

Japanese Calendar

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Japanese calendar

Since January 1, 1873, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of 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....
has used the Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 by the papal bull Inter gravissimas....
, with local names for the month

Month

The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural Orbital period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates....
s and mostly fixed holidays.

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Encyclopedia

Since January 1, 1873, Japan

Japan

Gregorian calendar

Month

Lunisolar calendar

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. This measure of time was first introduced by the Babylonians ....
. Japanese eras are still in use.

Years

Since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, three different systems for counting years have been used in Japan:

The western Anno Domini
Anno Domini

, abbreviated as 'AD' or 'A.D.', and 'Before Christ', abbreviated as 'BC' or 'B.C.', are designations used to number years in the Julian calendar and Gregorian calendars....
(Common Era
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
) (??, seireki) designation
The Japanese era name
Japanese era name

The Japanese era calendar scheme is a common calendar scheme used in Japan, which identifies a year by the combination of the and the year number within the era....
(??, nengo) based on the reign of the current emperor
Emperor of Japan

The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
, the year 2009 being Heisei 21
The imperial year (??, koki) based on the mythical founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu
Emperor Jimmu

; also known as: Kamuyamato Iwarebiko; given name: Wakamikenu no Mikoto or Sano no Mikoto, was the mythical founder of Japan and is the first emperor named in the traditional lists of emperors....
in 660 BC.

Of these three, the first two are still in current use; provides a convenient converter between the two. The imperial calendar was used from 1873 to the end of World War II

Pacific War

The Pacific War was the part of World War II?and preceding conflicts?that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, between July 7, 1937 and August 14, 1945....
.

Months

The modern Japanese names for the months literally translate to "first month", "second month", and so on. The corresponding number is combined with the suffix -gatsu (month):

January ?? (ichigatsu)
February ?? (nigatsu)
March?? (sangatsu)
April?? (shigatsu)
May ?? (gogatsu)
June ?? (rokugatsu)
July ?? (shichigatsu)
August ?? (hachigatsu)
September ?? (kugatsu)
October ?? (jugatsu)
November ??? (juichigatsu)
December ??? (junigatsu)

(Note that using Arabic numerals

Arabic numerals

The 'arabic numerals', or 'Hindu numerals' are the ten digits , which?along with Decimal Number System by which a sequence was read as a number?were originally defined by Indian mathematics, later modified and transferred to North African Islamic mathematics and transmitted to Europe in the Middle Ages, whence they spread around the wo...
, as 3?, is extremely common in everyday communication, almost the norm.)

In addition, every month has a traditional name, still used by some in fields such as poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literature art in which language is used for its aesthetics and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning ....
; of the twelve, shiwasu is still widely used today. The opening paragraph of a letter or the greeting in a speech might borrow one of these names to convey a sense of the season. Some, such as yayoi
Yayoi (given name)

is a feminine Japanese people given name....
and satsuki
Satsuki

is a traditional name for in Japanese language. It is also a common feminine Japanese given name which is rarely used as a surname and boy's name....
, do double duty as given name

Given name

A given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name ....
s (for women). These month names also appear from time to time on jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama", and the period is usually the Edo period of History of Japan, from 1603 to 1868....
, contemporary television

Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
shows and movies

Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
set in the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of History of Japan running from 1603 to 1868. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu....
or earlier.

The name of month: (pronunciation, literal meaning) (Note: the old Japanese calendar was an adjusted lunar calendar based on the Chinese calendar, and the year - and with it the months - started anywhere from about 3 to 7 weeks later than the modern year, so it is not really appropriate to equate the first month with January.)

1st month of the lunar calendar - ?? (mutsuki, affection month)
2nd month of the lunar calendar - ?? or ??? (kisaragi
Kisaragi

Kisaragi is a traditional name for February in the Japanese calendar.The meaning of "kisaragi" is not so deep as those of the other names of the months....
or kinusaragi, changing clothes)
3rd month of the lunar calendar - ?? (yayoi, new life; the beginning of spring)
4th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (uzuki, u-no-hana month; the u-no-hana is a flower, genus Deutzia
Deutzia

Deutzia is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to eastern and central Asia , and Central America and also Europe....
)
5th month of the lunar calendar - ?? or ?? or ??(satsuki, fast month)
6th month of the lunar calendar - ??? (minatsuki or minazuki, month of water — the ? character, which normally means "not", is here ateji
Ateji

In modern Japanese language, are kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words. This is analogous to man'yogana in pre-modern Japanese....
, that is, used only for the sound "na". In this name the na is actually a possessive particle, so Minazuki means "month of water," not "month without water", and some say this is in reference to the flooding of the rice fields. Some have suggested, however, that the name "waterless month" would have been appropriate since this month would have been the month after the end of the monsoon rains.)
7th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (fumizuki, book month)
8th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (hazuki, leaf month)
9th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (nagatsuki, long month)
10th month of the lunar calendar - ??? (kaminazuki or kannazuki
Kannazuki

is a traditional name for the tenth month in the traditional Japanese calendar.The name can be translated literally as "the month when there are no gods"....
, "month without gods - but analogous to the name of the 6th month, the ? character here could be the same possessive particle "na", making this "month of the gods") In Izumo province
Izumo Province

Izumo was an Old provinces of Japan of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture in the Chugoku region.It was one of the regions of ancient Japan where major political powers arose....
, modern-day Shimane Prefecture
Shimane Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan located in the Chugoku region on Honshu island. The capital is Matsue, Shimane. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, next to the Tottori Prefecture that is a neighboring prefecture on the east side....
, this is emended to ??? or ??? (kamiarizuki, roughly "month with gods"), as all the gods are believed to gather there for an annual meeting at the Izumo Shrine
Izumo Taisha

is one of the most ancient and important of the Jinja in Japan. Its name means "The Grand Shrine of Izumo Province." No record gives the date of establishment....
.
11th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (shimotsuki, frost month)
12th month of the lunar calendar - ?? (shiwasu, priests run; it is named so because priests are busy making end of the year prayers and blessings.)

Subdivisions of the month

Japan uses a seven-day week

Week

A week is a grouping of days or a division of a larger grouping such as a lunar month, year, etc. The week allows for shorter routine than a month and benefits groups of people with organising market days, worship, taxes, etc....
, aligned with the Western calendar. The seven day week, with names for the days corresponding directly to those used in Europe, was brought to Japan around AD 800. The system was used for astrological purposes and little else until 1876, shortly after Japan officially adopted the Western calendar. Fukuzawa Yukichi

Fukuzawa Yukichi

was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, translator, entrepreneur and political theory who founded Keio University. His ideas about government and social institutions made a lasting impression on a rapidly changing Japan during the Meiji Era....
was a key figure in the decision to adopt this system as the source for official names for the days of the week. The names come from the five visible planets, which in turn are named after the five Chinese elements

Five elements (Chinese philosophy)

In many traditional Chinese theory field, matters and its developmental movement stage can be classified into the Wu Xing , or the Five Movements, Five Phases or Five Steps/Stages, traditionally translated as Five Elements....
(wood, fire, earth, metal, water), and from the moon and sun (yin and yang

Yin and yang

In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin yang is used to describe how seemingly disjunct or opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn....
).

Japanese	Romanization	Element	English name
???	nichiyobi	Sun	Sunday
???	getsuyobi	Moon	Monday
???	kayobi	Fire (Mars MARS In cryptography, MARS is a block cipher that was IBM's submission to the Advanced Encryption Standard process. MARS was selected as an AES finalist in August 1999, after the AES2 conference in March 1999, where it was voted as the fifth and last finalist algorithm.... )	Tuesday
???	suiyobi	Water (Mercury Mercury (planet) Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 88 days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest Orbital eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt.... )	Wednesday
???	mokuyobi	Wood/Tree (Jupiter Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined.... )	Thursday
???	kin'yobi	Metal/Gold (Venus Venus Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus , the Roman mythology goddess of love.... )	Friday
???	doyobi	Earth (Saturn Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant.... )	Saturday

Japan also divides the month roughly into three 10-day periods. Each is called a jun. The first is jojun; the second, chujun; the last, gejun. These are frequently used to indicate approximate times, for example, "the temperatures are typical of the jojun of April"; "a vote on a bill is expected during the gejun of this month."

Days of the month

Each day of the month has a semi-systematic but irregularly formed name:

1	??	tsuitachi (sometimes ichijitsu)	17	???	jushichinichi
2	??	futsuka	18	???	juhachinichi
3	??	mikka	19	???	jukunichi
4	??	yokka	20	???	hatsuka (or nijunichi)
5	??	itsuka	21	????	nijuichinichi
6	??	muika	22	????	nijuninichi
7	??	nanoka	23	????	nijusannichi
8	??	yoka	24	????	nijuyokka
9	??	kokonoka	25	????	nijugonichi
10	??	toka	26	????	nijurokunichi
11	???	juichinichi	27	????	nijushichinichi
12	???	juninichi	28	????	nijuhachinichi
13	???	jusannichi	29	????	nijukunichi
14	???	juyokka	30	???	sanjunichi
15	???	jugonichi	31	????	sanjuichinichi
16	???	jurokunichi

(Note that using Arabic numerals, as 14?, is extremely common in everyday communication, almost the norm.)

Tsuitachi is a worn-down form of tsukitachi, which means the first of the month. In the traditional calendar, the last day of the month was called ?? misoka. Nowadays, the terms for the numbers 28-31 plus nichi are much more common. However, misoka is much used in contracts, etc., specifying that a payment should be made on or by the last day of the month, whatever the number is. The last day of the year is ??? omisoka
Omisoka

, New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese calendar because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of Japanese New Year, which is the most important day of the year....
(the big last day), and that term is still in use.

National holidays

Notes: Single days between two national holidays are taken as a bank holiday. This applies to May 4, which is a holiday each year. When a national holiday falls on a Sunday the next day that is not a holiday (usually a Monday) is taken as a holiday.

Date	English name	Local name	Romanization Romanization of Japanese The romanization of Japanese or is the use of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. Japanese is normally written in logogram borrowed from Chinese and syllabary scripts ....
January 1	New Year's Day Japanese New Year The Japanese people celebrate New Year's Day on January 1 each year on the Gregorian Calendar. Before 1873, the date of the was based on the Chinese calendar and celebrated at the beginning of spring, just as the contemporary Chinese New Year, Korean New Year and T?ts are celebrated to this day....	??	Ganjitsu
2nd Monday of January	Coming-of-age Day Seijin shiki is the Japanese Coming of age ceremony. It is held annually on , the second Monday in January. Festivities include ceremonies held at local and prefecture offices and parties amongst family and friends to celebrate passage into adulthood....	????	Seijin no hi
February 11	National Foundation Day National Foundation Day is a national holiday in Japan celebrated annually on February 11. On this day, Japanese celebrate the founding of the nation and the :Category:Japanese emperors by its legendary first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, who established his capital in Yamato Province.... †	??????	Kenkoku kinen no hi
March 20 or March 21	Vernal Equinox Day	????	Shunbun no hi
April 29	Showa Day Showa Day is a Japan annual holiday held on April 29. It honors the birthday of Emperor of Japan Hirohito , the reigning Emperor before, during, and after World War II .... *	????	Showa no hi
May 3	Constitution Memorial Day Constitution Memorial Day is a Public holiday in Japan. It takes place on May third in celebration of the promulgation of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It is a part of the collection of holidays known as Golden Week .... *	?????	Kenpo kinenbi
May 4	Greenery Day Greenery Day is a Holidays of Japan. 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 Hirohito's birthday on April 29 every year during the Showa era.... *	???(?)??	Midori no hi
May 5	Children's Day Children's Day Children's Day is an event celebrated on various days in many places around the world.... *	????	Kodomo no hi Kodomo no hi is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, and is part of the Golden Week . It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness....
3rd Monday of July	Marine Day Marine Day , also known as 'Ocean Day', is a Holidays of Japan celebrated on the third Monday in July. Many people take advantage of the holiday and summer weather to take a beach trip....	???	Umi no hi
3rd Monday of September	Respect for the Aged Day Respect for the Aged Day is a Japanese holiday celebrated annually to honor elderly citizens. A Public holiday since 1966, this used to be held on September 15. Beginning in 2003, Respect for the Aged Day is held on the third Monday of September....	????	Keiro no hi
September 23 or September 24	Autumnal Equinox Day	????	Shubun no hi
2nd Monday of October	Health-Sports Day Health and Sports Day , also known as Health-Sports Day or Sports Day, is a Holidays of Japan in Japan held annually on the second Monday in October. It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics being held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle....	????	Taiiku no hi
November 3	Culture Day Culture Day is a Public holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars....	????	Bunka no hi
November 23	Labour Thanksgiving Day Labour Thanksgiving Day is a national Holidays of Japan in Japan. It takes place annually on November 23. The law establishing the holiday cites it as an occasion for commemorating Manual labor and production and giving one another thanks....	??????	Kinro kansha no hi
December 23	The Emperor's Birthday The Emperor's Birthday is a national holiday in the Japanese calendar. It is currently celebrated on December 23. The date is determined by the present Emperor of Japan's birthdate....	?????	Tenno tanjobi

† Traditional date on which according to legend Emperor Jimmu

Emperor Jimmu

; also known as: Kamuyamato Iwarebiko; given name: Wakamikenu no Mikoto or Sano no Mikoto, was the mythical founder of Japan and is the first emperor named in the traditional lists of emperors....
founded Japan in 660 BC.

* Part of Golden Week

Golden Week (Japan)

, also known as or, is a Japan term applied to the period containing the following public holidays:* April 29**, until 1988**, from 1989 until 2006...

Timeline of changes to the national holidays

1948 - The following national holidays were introduced: New Year's Day, Coming-of-Age Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Children's Day, Autumnal Equinox Day, Culture Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day.
1966 - Health and Sports Day was introduced in memory of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Vernal Equinox Day was also introduced.
1985 - Reform to the national holiday law made May 4, sandwiched between two other national holidays also a holiday.
1989 - After Emperor Showa died on January 7, the Emperor's Birthday became December 23 and Greenery Day took place of the former Emperor's birthday.
2000, 2003 - Happy Monday System
Happy Monday System

The was a decision by the government of Japan to move a number of Public holiday to Mondays, creating a three-day weekend for those who normally have a five-day work week....
(?????????? Happi Mande Seido) moved several holidays to Monday. Starting with 2000: Coming-of-Age Day (formerly January 15), and Health and Sports Day (formerly October 10). Starting with 2003: Marine Day (formerly July 20), and Respect for the Aged Day (formerly September 15).
2005, 2007 - According to a May 2005 decision, starting with 2007 Greenery Day will be moved from April 29 to May 4 replacing a that existed after 1985 reform, while April 29 will be known as Showa Day.
2009 - September 22 may become sandwiched between two holidays, which would make this day a national holiday.

Seasonal days

Some days have special names to mark the change in seasons. The 24 Sekki (????? Nijushi sekki) are days that divide a year in the Lunisolar calendar

Lunisolar calendar

A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will predict the constellation near which the full moo...
into twenty four equal sections. Zassetsu is a collective term for the seasonal days other than the 24 Sekki. 72 Ko (???? Shichijuni ko) days are made from dividing the 24 Sekki of a year further by three. Some of these names, such as Shunbun, Risshu and Toji, are still used quite frequently in everyday life in Japan.

24 Sekki

Risshun: February 4 - Beginning of spring
Usui: February 19 - Rain water
Keichitsu: March 5 - awakening of hibernated (insects)
Shunbun: March 20 - Vernal equinox, middle of spring
Seimei: April 5 - Clear and bright
Kokuu: April 20 - Grain rain
Rikka
Rikka

is a type of ritual flower offering practiced by Japanese Buddhists. It first appeared in the fifteenth century. The rikka style reflects the magnificence of nature and its display....
: May 5 - Beginning of summer
Shoman: May 21 - Grain full
Boshu: June 6 - Grain in ear
Geshi
GeSHi

GeSHi or Generic Syntax Highlighter is a free software library_ that allows syntax highlight of source code for several markup language and programming languages....
: June 21 - Summer solstice
Solstice

A solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's Rotation is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its north or south extreme....
, middle of summer
Shosho: July 7 - Small heat
Taisho
Dashu

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . D?shu or Taisho is the 12th solar term....
: July 23 - Large heat
Risshu: August 7 - Beginning of autumn
Shosho: August 23 - Limit of heat
Hakuro: September 7 - White dew
Shubun
Shubun

Tensho Shubun was a Japanese people painter in the Muromachi period and a Zen Buddhist monk, and - for some time - abbot at the Shokoku-ji temple in Kyoto....
: September 23 - Autumnal equinox, middle of autumn
Kanro: October 8 - Cold dew
Soko
SOKO

SOKO was an aircraft factory situated in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It gained prominence in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
: October 23 - Frost descent
Ritto
Ritto

Ritto may refer to:*Ritto, Shiga, a city in Japan*Ritto, the 19th solar term, among the 24, of the traditional East Asian calendars. See Lidong...
: November 7 - Beginning of winter
Shosetsu: November 22 - Small snow
Taisetsu: December 7 - Large snow
Toji
Dongzhi

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Dongzh? or Toji is the 22nd solar term, and marks the winter solstice....
: December 22 - Winter solstice
Winter solstice

Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice* Winter Solstice *...
, middle of winter
Shokan
Shokan

Shokan can mean one of two things:* Shokan, New York, a town in the United States* The List of Mortal Kombat species#Shokan, a race in the mythical world of Mortal Kombat...
: January 5 Small Cold - a.k.a. ???? (Kan no iri) entrance of the cold
Daikan: January 20 - Major cold

Days can vary by ±1 day. See also: Jieqi.

Zassetsu

Day	Kanji	Romaji	Comment
January 17	????	Fuyu no doyo
February 3	??	Setsubun Setsubun In Japan, Setsubun is the day before the beginning of each season. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun, properly called Lichun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the ....	The eve of Risshun by one definition.
March 21	???	Haru shanichi	Also known as ?? (Harusha, Shunsha).
March 18 - March 24	???	Haru higan	The seven days surrounding Shunbun.
April 17	????	Haru no doyo
May 2	????	Hachiju hachiya	Literally meaning 88 nights (since Risshun).
June 11	??	Nyubai	Literally meaning entering tsuyu.
July 2	???	Hangesho	One of the 72 Ko. Farmers take five days off in some regions.
July 15	??	Chugen	Sometimes considered a Zassetsu.
July 20	????	Natsu no doyo
September 1	????	Nihyaku toka	Literally meaning 210 days (since Risshun).
September 11	?????	Nihyaku hatsuka	Literally meaning 220 days.
September 20 - September 26	???	Aki higan
September 22	???	Aki shanichi	Also known as ?? (Akisha, Shusha).
October 20	????	Aki no doyo

Shanichi days can vary as much as ±5 days. Chugen has a fixed day. All other days can vary by ±1 day.

Many zassetsu days occur on multiple seasons:

Setsubun refers to the day before each season, or the eves of Risshun, Rikka, Rishu, and Ritto; especially the eve of Risshun.

Doyo refers to the 18 days before each season, especially the one before fall which is known as the hottest period of a year.

Higan is the seven middle days of spring and autumn, with Shunbun at the middle of the seven days for spring, Shubun for fall.

Shanichi is the Tsuchinoe day closest to Shunbun (middle of spring) or Shubun (middle of fall), which can be as much as -5 to +4 days away from Shunbun/Shubun.

Seasonal festivals

The following are known as the five seasonal festivals (?? sekku, also ??? go sekku). The Sekku were made official holidays during Edo era.

January 7 (1/7) - ?? (Jinjitsu), ????? (Nanakusa no sekku)
March 3 (3/3) - ?? (Joshi, Jomi), ???? (Momo no sekku)
??? (Hina matsuri
Hinamatsuri

The Japanese , or Girls' Day, is held on March 3, the third day of the third month. Platforms with a red hi-mosen are used to display a set of representing the Emperor of Japan, Japanese empresses, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period....
), Girls' Day.
Tango: May 5 (5/5)
- ????? (Tango no sekku), ????? (Ayame no sekku)
- Boys' Day. Overlaps with the national holiday Children's Day
  Children's Day
  
  Children's Day is an event celebrated on various days in many places around the world....
  .
July 7 (7/7) - ?? (Shichiseki, Tanabata
Tanabata

is a Japanese star festival, derived from the China star festival, Qi Xi .It celebrates the meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi . The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar....
), ??? (Hoshi matsuri )
September 9 (9/9) - ?? (Choyo), ???? (Kiku no sekku)

Not Sekku:

January 1 - Japanese New Year
Japanese New Year

The Japanese people celebrate New Year's Day on January 1 each year on the Gregorian Calendar. Before 1873, the date of the was based on the Chinese calendar and celebrated at the beginning of spring, just as the contemporary Chinese New Year, Korean New Year and T?ts are celebrated to this day....
August 15 - Obon
Obón

Ob?n is a municipality located in the Teruel , Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants....
December 31 - Omisoka
Omisoka

, New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese calendar because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of Japanese New Year, which is the most important day of the year....

Rokuyo

The rokuyo are a series of six days that supposedly predict whether there will be good or bad fortune during that day. The rokuyo are still commonly found on Japanese calendars and are often used to plan weddings and funerals, though most people ignore them in ordinary life. The rokuyo are also known as the rokki. In order, they are:

The rokuyo days are easily calculated from the Japanese Lunisolar calendar. Lunisolar January 1 is always sensho, with the days following in the order given above until the end of the month. Thus, January 2 is tomobiki, January 3 is senbu, and so on. Lunisolar February 1st restarts the sequence at tomobiki. Lunisolar March 1st restarts at senbu, and so on for each month. The last six months repeat the patterns of the first six, so July 1 = sensho, December 1st is shakko and the moon-viewing day of "August 15th" is always a "butsumetsu."

This system did not become popular in Japan until the end of the Edo period.

April 1

The first day of April has broad significance in Japan. It marks the beginning of the government's fiscal year. Many corporations follow suit. In addition, corporations often form or merge on that date. In recent years, municipalities have preferred it for mergers. On this date, many new employees begin their jobs, and it is the start of many real-estate leases. The school year begins on April 1. (For more see also academic term

Academic term

An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called 'terms', 'semesters', academic quarter , or 'trimesters', depending on the institution and the country....
)

External links

,
Mechanics of the Japanese lunar calendar and hints on using NengoCalc (see below)
in Japanese
in Japanese
in Japanese
in English
converts Gregorian calendar years to Japanese Emperor Era years (known as nengo)
Detailed explanations of Reign years, Era years, Cyclic years, Western years, Imperial years
(Tool for converting Japanese dates into Western equivalents)
Shows what the current year in Japan is