Golden Week (Japan)

Golden Week (Japan)

Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク, Gōruden Wīku?), often abbreviated to simply GW and also known as Ōgon Shūkan (黄金週間?, "Golden Week") or "Large Consecutive Holiday" (大型連休, Ōgata Renkyū?) is a Japanese term applied to the period containing the following public holidays:

• April 29
  • The Emperor's Birthday (天皇誕生日, Tennō Tanjōbi?), until 1988
  • Greenery Day (みどりの日, Midori no Hi?), from 1989 until 2006
  • Shōwa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no Hi?), from 2007
• May 3
  • Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日, Kenpō Kinenbi?)
• May 4
  • Holiday† (国民の休日, Kokumin no Kyūjitsu?), from 1985 until 2006
  • Greenery Day (みどりの日, Midori no Hi?), from 2007
• May 5
  • Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no Hi?), also customarily known as Boys' Day (端午の節句, Tango no Sekku?).

†: "kokumin no kyūjitsu" or "citizen's holiday" is a generic term for any official holiday. May 4 was until 2007 an unnamed but official holiday because of a rule that converts any day between two holidays into a new holiday.

Note that May Day (on May 1) is not a public holiday. Instead, Japan has Labour Thanksgiving Day, a holiday with a similar purpose. When a public holiday lands on a Sunday, the next day that is not already a holiday becomes a holiday for that year.