“Golden Week” Starts
In Japan, a long holiday called “Golden Week” will soon begin.
2023 is from April 29 to May 7. Up to 9 consecutive holidays.
Golden Week is a Japanese holiday, such as “Showa Day”, “Constitutional Day”, “Greenery Day”, “Children’s Day”, and weekends,
Depending on the person, if you use paid vacation, it will be about a week off.
The world’s biggest holiday
Japan’s long holidays are mainly called “Golden Week,” which consists of four national holidays, and are usually held in early May.
On the other hand, the world’s long holidays vary by country and region, but many occur during the quarter. For example, summer vacation in Europe is from July to August, and summer vacation in America is from June to August.
Also, some countries offer long holidays for religious reasons. For example, Muslim countries offer a 10-day vacation to celebrate the big Muslim festival, “Eid al-Adha.”
In China, there is something like Golden Week, which is called “Ougon shuu(China’s Golden Week holiday)” and has a week-long vacation around October. In Europe and the U.S., although individuals take long holidays such as vacations, it seems to be a unique culture to have long holidays all over the country.
It’s a long holiday in Japan, but it seems that the number of days is small.
It’s true that it would be better if individuals took it individually like in Europe and the U.S. and the U.S. and Europe..
What is “Golden Week”
“GW” stands for “Golden Week” and is completely Japanese..
The origin of “Golden Week” was the spread of advertising terms given by directors at the time, hoping that movie companies would boost audience mobilization during this period.
In the news, it is sometimes referred to as “long holiday” instead of “Golden Week.”
Even though it’s a long holiday, most office workers usually take holidays according to the calendar.
I heard that there are two weekdays between “April 29 Showa Day” and “May 3rd Constitution Day”, and that many people go to work normally on weekdays, so I think there are actually more people who go to work from May 3rd to 5th consecutive holidays.
Golden Week is Japanese culture
Perhaps even if you say “Golden Week” to someone living abroad, it won’t work.
「Golden Week Holiday」
No, I have to explain that it’s Holiday or Vacation.
Is Long Vacation, which means a long vacation, appropriate?
In the past, it was difficult to take days off other than weekends in Japan, and I had the impression that there were many companies that had difficulty taking days off even though they had paid holidays.
Too much work. Maybe it’s a characteristic of Japan, which is said to be diligent.
Originally, there were no consecutive holidays in Japan, and it was only natural that there were companies and schools on Saturdays.
Thirty-eight years ago, in 1985, the legal revision of holidays was made, and holidays and weekends are continuing as they are now, and the culture of consecutive holidays is gradually permeating.
From the perspective of those who have grown up in a Western culture where they take a good rest and take care of their time with their families and their own, the culture of not taking holidays in Japan seems unusual.
When I was a student, I fell in love with “Full House” and fell in love with Western culture, and when I was a student, I did homestay and studied abroad for a short time, so I was shocked and envious of the differences in thinking about “holiday.”
What are you doing during Golden Week?
For most people, Shinkansen(bullet trains), airplanes and popular tourist attractions are crowded with people, such as “traveling” and “going home.”
This year, especially as COVID-19 regulations have been eased, there will be no restrictions on behavior in three years, so many places will be crowded.
At this time of year, Japan is at the boundary between spring and summer, and especially in Tokyo, it is easy to spend time in terms of temperature.
It seems that many people will go on a trip after a long time.
The tourism and travel industries, including inbound and outbound, are likely to become more active.
What kind of “Golden Week” will you spend?
