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【Basics】Holidays in Japan

Getting to know Japan, Traveling in Japan

Hello everybody! You would like to have an overview of all holidays in Japan? Then don’t search for them one by one, but have a look at the overview including the japanese name in this article.

In Japan there are even more public holidays than in Bavaria, so it is even more worth reading on 😉

And also the regulations concerning the opening hours of the shops are different in Japan on holidays, right?

Exactly. More public holidays does not mean that employees have more time off overall, but that another problem. And if a holiday falls on a Sunday, there is a special rule for employees in Japan! Are you curious? Then jump straight to the section that interests you!

Public Holidays.

First of all, I’m going to put together an overview of all holidays. Public holidays are highlighted in green. Please note that there are alternative dates for public holidays on Sundays (see “Special rule for public holidays on Sundays”).
Most public holidays are bound to a fixed date, some are variable – this is listed accordingly.
In 2020 there are three additional exceptions: Holidays marked with ** are moved to other days in 2020.

Overview of all public holidays

Special rule for public holidays on Sundays

This special rule for public holidays on Sundays only affects you as a traveler to a limited extent but is nevertheless interesting when it comes to full shops or destinations for excursions. For employees, this rule is great; if this rule existed in Germany, we wouldn’t have to worry about years when the holidays are unfavorable.

In Japan, if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, employees automatically have Monday off instead. So the holiday is, so to speak, simply shifted back by one day. This ensures a long weekend 😉 If Monday is also a public holiday, the public holiday on Sunday is simply added to the back of the list, so it falls on Tuesday. If a single working day lies between two public holidays, then the employees have the day off on this day.

You have to expect a correspondingly higher number of visitors when shopping, at excursion destinations and in leisure facilities. Hotels can also be fully booked well in advance, so you should bear this in mind when planning your trip! If the public holiday falls on Sunday, it does not mean that Monday is a normal weekday again. Instead, almost everyone has a day off and takes advantage of it.

Shops on public holidays.

In Germany, shops are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays. In Japan, shops are generally open on Sundays – this applies to supermarkets as well as all other shops and department stores. And the same applies to public holidays. So you don’t have to worry about closed shops or missing shopping opportunities! However, remember that most employees are off on holidays and use the days to shop, so you won’t be the only person shopping.

The only small exception is New Year’s Day and the two following days until 3rd of January. Unfortunately I cannot give you a clear rule here, as the opening hours are determined individually for each shop or department store. The Convenient Stores are of course open 24 hours, regardless of whether the New Year has started or not.
Supermarkets, shops and department stores are normally closed on New Year’s Day, i.e. on 1 January. Some of them open again on 2 January, others only on January 3rd or 4th. In recent years, the number of shops that are already open on New Year’s Day has also increased. But you are on the safe side if you assume that you can’t go big shopping.

From the first open day of the year, many shops sell “New Year Bags” with surprise articles at a “good price”. However, the really good deals are sold out very quickly, so if you are interested, you should find out when the store of your choice will be open again. From time to time part or all of the contents of the bags (with for example varying colors of the articles) are displayed on posters.

Holidays.

School holidays

The new school year begins in Japan on April 1st. The school year then runs over the summer holidays and ends in March. There are not as many individual school holidays in Japan as in some German states.
After school starts in April, the next break comes during the Golden Week – here, the public holidays are free. Some schools fill the bridge days with substitute days, e.g. if the sports festival takes place on Saturdays. You will find more details about the Golden Week further down in this article.
This is followed by the summer holidays, which last about 6 weeks (July & August) and include Obon. However, as the current school year continues after the summer holidays, there is generally homework over the summer holidays. After the summer holidays there is a longer period of free time around New Year’s Day. Here the pupils have 2 weeks off – the two weeks around the turn of the year.
The school year is completed by mid-March, so there are still two weeks of rest before the next school year.

The school holidays are valid for the whole of Japan, so there are no shifts depending on the region as is the case in the German states.

Semester holidays

After graduating from high school at the end of March, the studies also begin in April. In principle, the year can also be divided into summer and winter semesters, which are separated from lecture-free periods. In summer, students have mid/end July to the beginning of September off, depending on the examination period. In winter, March is lecture-free.

Golden Week

The holidays from April 29th to May 5th are called the “Golden Week”. Most employees try to get the remaining working days off between the holidays. Some companies also close down completely during this week, so that the employees automatically have to or may take time off.
This is one of the few times (besides New Year for example) when the majority of Japanese workers can take time off. During the Golden Week, the weather is usually nice and pleasant, so that a lot of people are expected to take time off for all leisure activities.

Obon

Obon is a festival in memory of the ancestors. It takes place in the middle of August and thus also falls during the school holidays. Many Japanese people visit their parents’ house and commemorate their ancestors there together. After their performance at Obon, the deceased come back to the family home and are led there with lanterns.
Together with New Year and the Golden Week, Obon is one of the times with the highest volume of inner-Japanese travel. Most of the workers are allowed to take time off work at Obon, and use the time to visit their families or make other trips.
You should take this into account when planning your trip. Once the date is set, many transportation and accommodation options are fully booked well in advance.

Summary.

Compared to Germany, Japan has many public holidays and also has an employee-friendly arrangement if a holiday falls on a Sunday.
The shops, however, are open on all public holidays, with a few exceptions around New Year’s Day. So you can go shopping every day all year round without having to worry about it. Only on New Year’s Day, you should pay attention to when the shops open.
New Year, Golden Week and Obon are the times of the year when many Japanese people are on the road. You should keep this in mind when planning your trip, as many things can be fully booked in advance.

【Traveling】Best time to travel to Japan: Seasons in Japan

Getting to know Japan, Traveling in Japan

When is the best time to travel to Japan?

And what about the seasons?

Hello everybody! You also want to know when is the best time to travel to Japan? Today is about seasons and travel times to Japan. I will mainly refer to the main island for the seasons. Since Japan is very long, the temperatures and also the transitions of the seasons vary depending on the place.

Seasons.

Spring (and cherry blossom)


When referring to spring in Japan, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is cherry blossom. Of course, the cherry blossom is not all that spring has to offer in Japan, but in fact the cherry blossom is the main event. And not only for travellers, the Japanese are in “cherry blossom fever” every year.

The cherry blossom can be followed step by step in all stages of development until “full bloom” on various websites with cherry blossom maps. The first ornamental cherries begin to blossom in the south of Japan, and then the flowering time shifts step by step towards the north. So if you are in Japan at exactly the right time, you can travel from southern cities to the north with the cherry blossom in full bloom.

Since the season for cherry blossom varies a little each year, it must be a big luck that you are really at a certain destination for full bloom. So I recommend that you make your travel plan flexible if you want to experience the cherry blossom in full bloom. For example, as the journey gets closer, you can adjust the order of your destinations so that you can experience the cherry blossom in one place.

The Japanese use the cherry blossom every year again for “Hanami” – translated “cherry blossom show”. This is usually associated with eating and drinking under the blossoms, together with friends or colleagues. For this purpose, plastic tarpaulins (often blue) are laid out under the cherry trees and picnic on them. At rivers there are often cherry blossom avenues, under which additional small food stalls are set up.

The temperatures in spring are pleasant, and the humidity is not yet so high. Pollen also flies in Japan, although very few Germans there have problems, even if they have hay fever in Germany. Otherwise masks help, which can be bought in every convenience store or drugstore.

Summer


A summer in Japan includes barbecues by the river and fireworks. These are the typical summer activities for Japanese people. Every weekend there is a planned firework display somewhere, with or without a festival. Often the Japanese people visit the festivals and fireworks in traditional clothing. The festivities range from small street festivals to big city festivals – what they have in common are the many food stalls where you can often find fried or grilled food.

For barbecuing on the river you are seldom alone, usually you share the gravelly river bed with many other barbecue enthusiasts, who barbecue fish, meat and vegetables over beer. The “arrival” is often by car, with which you can drive down to the riverbed and then set up your barbecue equipment next to your car.

The temperatures in summer are slightly higher than in Germany – up to 40°C can be common on hot summer days. In addition, the humidity is very high, so it feels warmer than in Germany. However, you should always have a thin jacket with you, as it can often be very cool in the air-conditioned restaurants, shops, public buildings and transport.

In summer it is usually a bit misty, so blue skies are rare. You will also rarely see Mount Fuji in summer, as it is usually hidden behind clouds. However, you can only climb Mt. Fuji in summer. If you are planning a trip to an observation tower or something similar, then I would recommend you to do it in the morning, here you have a better chance of good and wide visibility in summer.

Autumn (and autumn leaves)


Japan also offers a famous natural phenomenon in autumn. Or rather, Japan has managed to make famous an element of nature that recurs every year all over the world: The discoloration of the leaves, the colorful autumn foliage. In Japanese it is called “Momiji”, and strictly speaking, only discolored leaves from Japanese maple trees are included here. These are a very popular photo motif, even though the yellow, orange and red leaves of other trees can be just as beautiful.

There are also calendars for autumn leaves with predictions and current states of discoloration on various cards. The rush in parks with maple trees is enormous when the leaves are just discolored red. At night, illuminations of the trees in the parks offer additional photo motives.

The temperatures in autumn are pleasant again, tending to be slightly warmer than in Germany. Usually in October and November a thin jacket is sufficient during the day. The air humidity is again lower than in the sultry summer, which makes it more pleasant to be outdoors.

Winter


The winter in Japan is relatively unspectacular. On the main island, for example in the area of Tokyo or Osaka, there is usually no snow. And when it does snow it is not comparable to the amount in the south of Germany. So the temperatures in these areas are also mostly in the positive single-digit range – 0° to 10° are normal. The air is relatively dry and in winter you can almost always enjoy blue skies. In the south on Okinawa it is a bit warmer.

If you want to experience snow in Japan, you have to go to the Japanese Alps or to Hokkaido. The Japanese Alps are on the “other side” of the main island, i.e. from Tokyo towards the northwest. There are also a lot of ski resorts with really good snow. Also on Hokkaido it snows every year – not only in the mountains but all over the island. You will also find a number of ski resorts and lots of snow. The famous “Sapporo Snow Festival” also benefits from this. In the Japanese Alps and on Hokkaido, the temperatures are of course lower than in Tokyo, so minus degrees are the rule. The air is just as dry.

Rainy season and typhoon season.


Special times of the year in Japan are the rainy season and the typhoon season.

The rainy season lasts from about June to mid-July. Here it rains very often, the air humidity is accordingly high. However, most of the time the temperatures are already very high, so that the sudden rainfall is a “sultry cooling”. Nevertheless, I would recommend you to have an umbrella with you, or to buy one in the next supermarket, convenience store or 100 Yen shop.

The typhoon season is “regular” in the months of August and September, although in recent years there have also been typhoons in October or November. If there is a typhoon coming, you should follow the news when it arrives at your location. These approach from the south and often change their course; sometimes over the main island, sometimes away from it. It will usually rain for a few days, often combined with strong winds. The umbrella will often not help, so you should plan better activities inside the building if possible. Like a hurricane, the typhoon is often gone as fast as it came, so just wait until it has passed.

Best time to travel.

As you may have noticed from the descriptions of the seasons, summer is not the best time to travel. In summer it is relatively hot and humid, so that you often prefer to take a shower rather than visit the next temple. On top of that there is the rainy season in June and July, and the danger of being surprised by a typhoon in August or September. If you want to climb Mount Fuji, of course, or you like the sultry climate, then summer is the right time for you.

Otherwise I would recommend spring or autumn. Apart from cherry blossom and autumn leaves, the temperatures here are the most pleasant for travelling – not too cold and not too warm. Of course, the beginning and end of spring and autumn vary a bit every year. In general I can recommend March-May and October-November. For skiing, you have to aim for mid-December to March; and the Japanese winter is also beautiful, but not very spectacular in the big cities.

In addition, I would not lose sight of the Japanese holidays and vacations when planning the trip, here the hotels are usually fully booked and/or expensive and at popular destinations it can be very crowded. A list of Japanese holidays and school holidays can be found in this article.

Summary.

Japan also has spring, summer, autumn and winter. Especially beautiful are the cherry blossom in spring and the autumn leaves in autumn. Also the temperatures are most pleasant at these seasons, so that I can recommend March-May and October-November as travel season. In summer it is very warm and humid, but in winter you usually have the chance of blue skies. And even if it does not work out to be the best time to travel, I can reassure you: Japan is always a beautiful country to travel!

【Basics】Time, Daylight saving time and Time shift – Getting to Know Japan.

Getting to know Japan

Hello everyone! In Germany last week the clocks were changed back to daylight-saving time, but how is it actually in Japan? When do they change the time there? And in which time zone is Japan?

Hello! While we are on the subject: How big is the difference to the time in Germany? And what I would also be interested in is the length of the day, and how I can best overcome the jet lag!

Hi, it’s me, JPNavi! That’s a lot of questions. In this article I will summarize everything concerning the time and daytime in Japan! Have fun reading.

Time zone.

In Japan, the Japan Standard Time (JST) applies; and that applies to Japan as a whole. Japan is located east of Europe and is therefore ahead of us in time. In terms of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the official world time, Japan is in the GMT+9 time zone.

Time shift.

All well and good, but “GMT+9” is not the answer you would expect if you wanted to know what time it is. The easiest way is to relate to Germany. But here you have to start differentiating between summer and winter time.

We change the clock (still) twice a year, in Japan there is no summertime, so the whole year it is the same time. This also means that the time difference between Japan and Germany is different in summer than in winter. In summer Japan is 7 hours ahead of us, in winter it is 8 hours.

History of the time shift.

Currently there is no daylight-saving time in Japan. But was there ever a time change in Japan?

Actually, the last time the clock was changed was in 1951. To be precise, the clocks were set back one hour (from 2:00 am to 1:00 am) on September 8, 1951. So, this is where the last daylight-saving time in Japan ended. The summertime ending here began on May 6, 1951, when the clocks were advanced from 2:00 am to 3:00 am. You can find more details for example on this page.

Does this mean that there was a continuous time change in Japan until 1951? No, there was no change for a long period of time, it started with the introduction of daylight-saving time on May 2, 1948, so it was only four years with time change, then it was abolished.

Daylight and day length.

The time change is also called “daylight-saving-time” – and not for no reason. If there is no daylight-saving-time in Japan, what about daylight in Japan? Anyone who has ever been to Japan knows that it gets dark relatively quickly in the evening – regardless of the season.

But the sun rises very early in the morning. June 21 is the longest day of the year this year, with a day length of a good 14.5 hours in Tokyo. But the sun rises at 4:25 a.m. and sets at 7:00 pm – so no grilling until 9 pm in the sunshine, because the time of twilight is also relatively short. Just for comparison: in Munich the sun rises at 5:13 am and sets again at 9:17 pm – so we also have 1.5 hours more sun than in Tokyo. 

But in winter it is the other way round. The shortest day this year is on December 21st with a day length of almost 9.75 hours in Tokyo. Sunrise is at three-quarters seven and the sunset at 4:31 pm. The sunset in Munich is only 9 minutes earlier, but the sun doesn’t rise until 8:01am – so we have only eight and a half hours of day length. If you are interested in day lengths or sunrises and sunsets, I recommend this page.

Tips for the jet lag.

Time shifting can be exhausting! So that you are not tormented by jet lag for the first few days after your flight, here are a few tips.

Even if it is more difficult than it sounds: the most important thing is to live directly according to the new time zone when you arrive there. So the best thing to do is to set your watch to the target time as soon as you board the plane and try to change your sleeping rhythm while you are still in the plane. If you can’t sleep in the plane, you will now think: “thank you for the pointless tip”. But for those of you who can’t sleep on the plane, it’s even more important to bite through the first day!

Those who have got through the first day in the time on site, have survived the worst. This can be very exhausting (also from our own experience), but those who lie down “for a short rest” at noon will struggle with the consequences the following days. The best thing to do is to keep busy for the first day, then the day will be over twice as fast and you will notice the tiredness only half as bad. And how to keep yourself busy is described in the articles on Traveling Japan. The possibilities are endless – just go for a walk, visit the first sights, explore department stores and supermarkets, go out for a meal, and so on..

Summary.

Japan does not change the clocks, so the same time applies all year round. Compared to Germany, in Japan it is 8 hours later in winter, in summer it is only 7 hours.
The sun generally rises very early in Japan and then sets again quickly, so if you want to experience as much sunshine as possible, you have to get up early!