May 1, 2019 -- Wednesday

令和元年５月１日

On May 1st, the new era 令和 ‘Reiwa’ will begin.

 The name ‘Reiwa’ is taken from two words: 令‘Rei’ and　輪 ‘Wa’, which appear in the introduction to the chapter ‘Thirty-two plum blossom poems’ from the 万葉集‘Man’yōshū’ (‘Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves’), a famous 8th century collection of classical Japanese ‘waka’ poetry.

The introduction describes the wonderful time of year and the weather with the words: 「初春の令月にして、気淑く風和らぐ」 (“Shoshun no reigetsu ni shite, ki yoku kaze yawaragu”), which means, ‘It is the ‘propitious’ month of early spring; the weather is fine and the wind is ‘calm’. ‘Reiwa’ takes the two words, ‘令’ (rei) and ‘和’ (wa) which each means, ‘propitious’ and ‘calm’.  

Spring haiku:

ひらひらと            ひらひら　と        　　  Just now fluttering                      

風に流れて            かぜ　に　ながれて      Caught and blown

                                                                                                          by the young breeze         

蝶一つ                      ちょう　ひとつ               Single butterfly

Masaoka Shiki　（1867－1902）　　正岡子規

(translation/paraphrase by C.R. Kimmel)




Short story on the 白ばん

私は色々な人と
出かけるのが好き。
（ゲーブみたい、ね。）
ケルの友達の友達の
お姉さんの友達の友達の
妹のお姉さんの友達の
お姉さんと　デートをした。
でも、やっぱりケルちゃんが
一番すき。<3



Kanji tests for Nakama Chapter 12 -- 1 for reading and 1 for writing.

Golden Week (Japan)

Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク Gōruden Wīku, Gōruden Uīku) (or GW) is a week from the 29th of April to early May containing a number of Japanese holidays.^[1]

Golden Week
Observed by	Japan
Type	National
Date	29 April, 3–6 May
Frequency	annual

Holidays celebrated

§  29 April

·         The Emperor's Birthday (天長節 Tenchō Setsu), 1927–1948

·         The Emperor's Birthday (天皇誕生日 Tennō Tanjōbi), 1949–1988^[2]

·         Greenery Day (みどりの日 Midori no Hi), 1989–2006^[3]

·         Shōwa Day (昭和の日 Shōwa no Hi), 2007–present^[3]

§  3 May

·         Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日 Kenpō Kinenbi)

§  4 May

·         Citizen's Holiday (国民の休日 Kokumin no Kyūjitsu), 1985–2006

·         Greenery Day (みどりの日 Midori no Hi), 2007–present^[3]

§  5 May

·         Children's Day (子供の日 Kodomo no Hi), also known as Boys' Day or the Feast of Banners, traditionally celebrated as Tango no Sekku　(端午の節句).

Note that "kokumin no kyūjitsu" or "citizen's holiday" is a generic term for any official holiday. 4 May was until 2007 an unnamed but official holiday because of a rule that converts any day between two holidays into a new holiday. Japan celebrates Labor Thanksgiving Day, a holiday with a similar purpose to May Day (as celebrated in Europe and North America). When a public holiday lands on a Sunday, the next day that is not already a holiday becomes a holiday for that year.^[4] In some cases, a Compensation Holiday (振替休日 Furikae Kyūjitsu) is held on either 30 April or 6 May should any of the Golden Week holidays fall on Sunday; 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 have had Compensation Holidays for Shōwa Day, Children's Day, Greenery Day, and Constitution Memorial Day, respectively.

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 recorded higher ticket sales during this holiday-filled week than any other time in the year (including New Year's and Obon). This prompted the managing director of Daiei Film Co., Ltd. to dub the week "Golden Week" based on the Japanese radio lingo “golden time,” which denotes the period with the highest listener ratings.^[5] At the time, 29 April was a national holiday celebrating the birth of the Shōwa Emperor. Upon his death in 1989, the day was renamed "Greenery Day."^[3] In 2007, Greenery Day was moved to 4 May, and 29 April was renamed Shōwa Day to commemorate the late Emperor.^[3]

Current practice

Many Japanese nationals take paid time off during this holiday, and some companies are closed down completely and give their employees time off. Golden Week is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese workers. Two other Japanese holidays are observed for most or all of a week: Japanese New Year in January and Obon Festival in August.

Golden Week is a popular time for holiday travel. Despite significantly higher rates, flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked. Popular destinations include Asia, Guam, Saipan, and Hawaii, and major cities on the West Coast of North America such as Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Vancouver, and a number of cities in Europe and Australia.

The Super GT Fuji 500 km auto race is held on Golden Week.

2019 schedule

Golden Week in 2019 is particularly long due to the 2019 Japanese imperial transition, with the succession of the new emperor on 1 May designated as an additional national holiday. As 29 April and 3 May are already holidays, this causes 30 April and 2 May to be public holidays as well, making 2019's Golden Week ten consecutive days, from Saturday 27 April through Monday 6 May.^[6]

After the tests, students were to write a 2 paragraph summary of the Wikipedia article about Japan's Golden Week.

宿題　　　　　　　　　　　　しゅくだい　　　　　　　　　　Homework

Finish the Golden Week summary if you did not finish it in class.