Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. I forgot to talk about one of the national holidays in Japan:　海の日（うみのひ） or Marine Day. It was July 16 in this year.
Marine Day or Ocean Day is fairly new and was delcleared in 1996. This national holiday had been celebrated on July 20th until 2002, but it was moved to the third Monday of July according to the concept of Happy Mondays. The Day’s historical background goes back to the year of 1845 during the Meiji Period. It was the day when the Meiji Emperor came back safely to the Port of Yokohama after a long cruise to visit the Tohoku district and Hokkaido. After this event, July 20th bacame a memorable day among sailors and people involved in marine affairs.

What is Happy Mondays?
The Japanese Governmnet decided to moe several national holidays o Mondays to create a three-day weekend for those who have Saturdays and Sundays off. Some people welcome he long weekends since they creat new economic demand, mainly in tourism. While others say that national holidays should not be moved because the dates tehmselves possess historical significance. The holidays that have been changed include Coming-of-Age Day, Marine Day, Respect for the Aged Day and Health and Sports Day.

July 20th News from NILS Japanese language school.