Learn About Japan > Japan Through the Year > Public Holidays > Labor Thanksgiving Day (November 23)

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Public Holidays
- New Year's Day or Shōgatsu (January 1)
- Coming-of-Age Day (second Monday in January)
- National Foundation Day or Kigensetsu (February 11)
- Spring Equinox Day or Vernal Equinox (March)
- Golden Week (Late April-Early May)
- Marine Day (Third Monday in July)
- Respect-for-the-Aged Day (Third Monday in September)
- Autumnal Equinox Day (September)
- Culture Day (November 3)
- Labor Thanksgiving Day (November 23)
- Emperor’s Birthday (December 23)
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Preschool students visit the local post office to thank the workers on Labor Thanksgiving Day.
Photo from Fukumaru Preschool website.
Labor Thanksgiving Day (November 23)
Labor Thanksgiving Day was enacted in 1948 to honor labor, to celebrate high productivity, and for the Japanese people to appreciate the contributions of labor. Until 1945, November 23rd was the day for Niiname-sai. This was a court ceremony in which the Emperor dedicated the year’s harvest to the gods, and ate some of it himself This ceremony was also held at shrines and villages all over Japan in appreciation for the year’s harvest. As part of the many post-war changes, this originally Shinto harvest festival has come to be celebrated as a day to honor all the forms and products of labor.
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