Photo/Illutration This year, “Supotsu no Hi” has been moved to July 23, when the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics is scheduled, and “Umi no Hi” has been moved from July 19 to July 22. “Yama no Hi” has been moved to Aug. 8, the day for the Closing Ceremony. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A government notice recently carried by newspapers reminded the public that the dates of three national holidays have been changed for this year.

“Umi no Hi” (Marine Day), “Yama no Hi” (Mountain Day) and “Supotsu no Hi” (Sports Day) are being moved in consideration of the Tokyo Olympics schedule.

But when I checked my calendar on hand, it did not reflect any of the changes.

To find out why, I visited the office of Todan Co., a leading calendar maker.

“The Diet voted on the date changes in late November last year,” said Kunio Kowaguchi, 70, president of Todan. “By then, our 2021 calendars had been already shipped.”

It takes a year to print any calendar. He said there was nothing that could be done.

This was not the first time his company was thrown off by a political decision.

In spring 2000, a bill to rename the April 29 national holiday from “Midori no Hi” (Greenery Day) to “Showa no Hi” (Showa Day) was expected to be passed in the Diet, and Kowaguchi started printing the following year’s calendars.

But a few days later, then-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori made his controversial “kami no kuni” (divine nation) comment, which threw the Diet into chaos and killed the bill.

For Kowaguchi’s company, that meant tens of millions of yen down the drain.

More recently, it was all pins and needles for the calendar industry when the era transitioned from Heisei to Reiwa.

Reports flew about the planned date of Emperor Akihito’s abdication, ranging from the end of the calendar year and the end of the fiscal year to the end of April.

“If a national holiday is to be moved, I beg that there be a two-year lead time before the new date comes into effect,” Kowaguchi said.

Looking back on the past year or so, I think I was looking at the calendar more frequently than before.

There were days I went to visit my parents living far away, and days when I sighed with resignation over delays in vaccinations against the novel coronavirus. Anxious days have yet to end.

Around the world, the powers that be change the dates of public holidays for their own satisfaction.

But the original purpose of observing public holidays should be to reflect on, and learn lessons from, the history of those days.

I fear that arbitrarily moving them will trivialize the significance of those special days.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 29

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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