Since January 1, 1873, Japan has used the Gregorian Calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays. Before 1873 a lunisolar calendar was in use, which was adapted from the Chinese calendar.

Years

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

• The Western Christian Era (西暦) designation
• The Japanese era name (元号) based on the reign of the current emperor, the year 2005 being Heisei 17
• The imperial year (皇紀) based on the mythical founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660BC

Of the these three, the first two are still in current use; the imperial calendar was used until the end of World War II, though still maintained in some official contexts.

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 - 一月 (ichigatsu)
• February - 二月 (nigatsu)
• March - 三月 (sangatsu)
• April - 四月 (shigatsu)
• May - 五月 (gogatsu)
• June - 六月 (rokugatsu)
• July - 七月 (shichigatsu)
• August - 八月 (hachigatsu)
• September - 九月 (kugatsu)
• October - 十月 (jūgatsu)
• November - 十一月 (jūichigatsu)
• December - 十二月 (jūnigatsu)

In addition, every month has a traditional name, still used by some in fields such as poetry; 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 and satsuki, do double duty as given names (for women). These month names also appear from time to time on jidaigeki, which are contemporary television shows and movies set in the Edo period or earlier.

Here is a list of the traditional names.

The name of month: (pronunciation, literal meaning)

• January - 睦月 (mu tsuki)
• February - 如月 or 衣更着 (kisaragi or kinusaragi )
• March - 弥生 (yayoi)
• April - 卯月 (udzuki)
• May - 皐月 or 早月 or 五月(satsuki)
• June - 水無月 (mina tsuki or mina dzuki, no water month)
• July - 文月 (fumi dzuki, book month)
• August - 葉月 (ha dzuki, leaf month)
• September - 長月 (naga tsuki, long month)
• October - 神無月 (kan'na dzuki or kamina dzuki, no god month), 神有月 or 神在月; (kamiari dzuki, god month – only in Izumo province, where all the gods are believed to gather in October for an annual meeting at the Izumo Shrine)
• November - 霜月 (shimo tsuki, frost month)
• December - 師走 (shiwasu, priests run; it is named so because priests are busy making end of the year prayers and blessings.)

Days of the month

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

In the traditional calendar, the thirtieth was the last day of the month, and its traditional name, misoka, survives (although sanjunichi is far more common, and is the usual term). The last day of the year is ōmisoka (the big thirtieth day), and that term is still in use.

Days of the week

These were created by Fukuzawa Yukichi, who linked the names of the days of the week to the names of the planets, moon and sun in our solar system (following the European tradition).

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 following Monday is being taken as a holiday.

The list and the table are to be merged.

The list of national holidays:

• January 1 - Ganjitsu New Year's Day (since 1948)
• The second Monday in January - Seijin no hi Coming-of-Age Day. Until 1999, the day was on January 15 (since 1948)
• February 11 - Kenkoku kinen no hi National Foundation Day ), the traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
• March 21 - Vernal Equinox Day (since 1966) The day may vary according to the law.
• April 29 - Midori no hi Greenery Day (since 1989)
• May 3 - Constitution Memorial Day (since 1948)
• May 4 - Kokumin no kyūjitsu National Holiday (since 1985)
• May 5 - Kodomo no hi Children's Day (since 1948)
• The third Monday in July - Umi no hi Marine Day. Until 2002, the day was on July 20 (since 1995)
• The third Monday in September - Keirō no hi Respect for the Aged Day. Until 2002, the day was on September 15 (since 1966)
• September 22 - Kokumin no kyūjitsu National Holiday (since 2003). This day appears occasionally according to the law. The day is predicted to appear in 2009 unless the law remains same.
• September 23 - Autumnal Equinox Day (since 1948)
• The second Monday in October - Taiiku no hi Health and Sports Day . Until 1999, the day was on October 10 (since 1966)
• November 3 - National Culture Day (since 1948)
• November 23 - Labor Thanksgiving Day (since 1948
• December 23 - The Emperor's Birthday (since 1989)

This table includes 雑節 (Zassetsu), 二十四節気 (24 Sekki) and some others.

• January 5 - 寒の入り Kannoiri
• January 5 - 小寒 Shōkan
• January 17 - 冬の土用 Fuyu no doyō
• January 20 - 大寒 Daikan
• February 3 - 節分 Setsubun
• February 4 - 立春 Risshun (literally meaning standing spring)
• February 19 - 雨水 Usui
• March 6 - 啓蟄 Keichitsu
• March 16 - 春社日 haru sha nichi
• March 18 - 春彼岸 haru higan
• March 21 - 春分 Shunbun
• April 5 - 清明 Seimei
• April 17 - 春の土用 haru no doyō
• April 20 - 穀雨 Kokuu
• May 2 - 八十八夜 hachijū hachi ya 88 nights
• May 6 - 立夏 Rikka (literally meaning standing summer)
• May 21 - 小満 Shōman
• June 6 - 芒種 Bōshu
• June 11 - 入梅 Nyū bai (literally meaning entering tsuyu )
• June 21 - 夏至 Gesshi
• July 2 - 半夏生 Hange shō
• July 7 - 小暑 Shōsho
• July 15 - 中元 Chūgen
• July 15 - お盆 Obon
• July 20 - 夏の土用 natsu no doyō
• July 23 - 大暑 Taisho
• August 8 - 立秋 Risshū (literally meaning standing autumn)
• August 23 - 処暑 Shosho
• September 1 - 二百十日 (Ni-hyaku tō ka, 210 days)
• September 8 - 白露 Hakuro
• September 11 - 二百二十日 (Ni-hyaku hatsu ka, 220 days)
• September 20 - 秋彼岸 aki higan
• September 22 - 秋社日 aki sha nichi
• September 23 - 秋分 Shūbun
• October 8 - 寒露 Kannro
• October 20 - 秋の土用 aki no doyō
• October 23 - 霜降 Sōkō
• November 7 - 立冬 Rittō (literally meaning standing winter)
• November 22 - 小雪 Shōsetsu
• December 7 - 大雪 Taisetsu
• December 22 - 冬至 Tōji

(Except 中元 (chūgen) and お盆 (obon), days vary according to the year.)

Some of these names are still used quite frequently in everyday life in Japan. It is common that daily weather reports use 冬至 (Tōji).

Seasonal festivals

The following are known as the five seasonal festivals (sekku 節句)

• January 1 - Japanese New Year
• January 7 - 人日 (Jinjutsu ), 七草の節句 (Nanakusa-no-sekku)
• March 3 - 上巳 (Jōshi/Jōmi), 桃の節句
• May 5 - 端午 (Tango/Tango no Sekku), 端午の節句 - Children's Day (originally the boys' festival while Hinamatsuri was the girls' festival)
• July 7 - 七夕 (Shichiseki/Tanabata)
• September 9 - 重陽 (Chōyō), 菊の節句
• December 31 - Japanese New Year's Eve

Rokuyō

The rokuyō (六曜) are a series of six days that predict whether there will be good or bad fortune during that day. The rokuyō are still commonly found on Japanese calendars today, and are often used to plan weddings and funerals. The rokuyō are also known as the rokki (六輝). In order, they are:

• 先勝 (senshō) - Good luck before noon, bad luck after noon
• 友引 (tomobiki) - Bad things will happen to your friends. Funerals avoided on this day.
• 先負 (senbu) - Bad luck before noon, good luck after noon
• 仏滅 (butsumetsu) - Most unlucky day. Weddings best avoided.
• 大安 (taian) - Most lucky day. Good day for weddings.
• 赤口 (shakkō) - The hour of the horse (11 am - 1 pm) is lucky. The rest is bad luck.

See also

• Holidays of Japan
• Calendar
• Japanese era name
• Chinese Calendar

External links

• Japanese calendar history by the National Diet Library
• The Lunar Calendar in Japan
• Koyomi no page in Japanese
• Koyomi no hanashi in Japanese