Day of Honoring Older People in Japan (19/09)

Every year on the third Monday of September, Japan celebrates the Day of Honoring Older Persons (Japanese). ⁇ 大の日, Keiro-no Hi).

It is still an indisputable fact that on planet Earth the Japanese are part of the group of centenarians. According to the World Health Organization in 2019, the average life expectancy of Japanese is 81.41 years, and of Japanese women — is 87.45 years.

When talking about older people, in Japan they use the expression «silver age» (from the English silver age), and it must be said that the «silver age» in Japan, for the most part, leads a healthy lifestyle and looks excellent. There is no doubt that the Japanese proverb — «Know new things by referring to the old» — very well reflects the connection between generations in Japan and allows us to understand that the cult of the older generation, in the good sense of the word, is very noticeable here. Therefore, the Day of Honoring Older People (Keiro-no Hi) — is a bright and beloved holiday.

Masao Kadowaki, the head of a small village in Hyogo Prefecture, proposed celebrating «Holiday» in 1947. During the day, September 15 was chosen for the celebration — and the harvest was completed, and the weather was favorable. They gathered a council of elders and approved with the motto of the holiday: «Better life in the village, learning wisdom from the elderly, respecting them and adopting their experience».

Since 1950, the initiative of the celebration was taken up in other villages, and the tradition gradually spread throughout the country. Later, the expression «Day of the Elderly» began to be considered not entirely ethical, and since 1964 the name was changed to «Day of the Elderly». And since 1966, the day has become a national holiday — Day of Honoring Older People.

Until 2003, the Day of Honoring Older Persons was celebrated on September 15, and since 2003, as a result of a partial revision of the Law «On National Holidays», it was postponed to the third Monday of September. Thus, at the beginning of autumn, the Japanese received a legal reason to relax and congratulate their beautiful old people, wishing them a long «third period of life».

The Day of Honoring Older People becomes the object of attention of family and friends, children and grandchildren (Photo: imtmphoto, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

The Day of Honoring Older Persons becomes the object of attention not only of family and friends, children and grandchildren. The retail chain provides a huge selection of goods with significant discounts, medical institutions conduct free medical examinations, some charitable organizations, foundations and various government agencies issue cash benefits, schools and creative groups prepare concerts and festive performances. On this day, some large sports and fitness centers invite «silver age» to visit the pool or sauna for free, and hairdressers — to do a fashionable perm.

According to a very old tradition, having lived a 12-year cycle 5 times, a Japanese man reaches 60 years of age and enters a new state... he returns to infancy. A reminder of this return is the red vest and small hat that children and grandchildren give to their tireless workers on their autumn holiday. Such a simple gift can be received for your 60th birthday by a boss or manager from colleagues or a university professor from students. Vest color changes with age «baby». For the 70th and 77th anniversaries they prepare a lilac-colored vest, for the 80th, 88th and 90th anniversaries — is yellow, and for the 99th anniversary — is white.

How many Japanese have already tried on a white vest? According to Japan's Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, as of fall 2022, the number of Japanese who crossed the 100-year mark reached 90 thousand 526 people, and the majority (88.2%) came from the female gender.

Unbiased statistics also report the following fact: a quarter of the Japanese population — are people over 65. The nation is aging, and society is inevitably faced with the problems of providing it with a decent old age, medical care and care for the elderly, paying pensions and benefits and, which have become increasingly relevant recently, guaranteeing the personal and financial safety of older people.

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