Japan Holiday Calendar — Is This Date a Holiday? Plus Streak Ranking

What Is the Japan Holiday Calendar?

How to Use the Japan Holiday Calendar

Ways to Use the Japan Holiday Calendar

Japan Holiday Calendar Glossary

FAQ

Side Note — Japan's Public Holidays vs. the World — Many Holidays, Few Paid Vacations Taken

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Tips for getting more out of it

Plan a trip or a visit home

Build a staffing schedule

Check holidays before counting business days

Check a single specific date

2027 Consecutive Holiday Ranking Consecutive periods (3+ days) of weekends, public holidays, and the conventional New Year closure (Dec 31, Jan 2–3)

2027 Calendar

Definition of Public Holidays

Substitute Holiday Rules

New Year's Eve and the First Three Days

Instantly check whether any date in 2027 — including New Year's Eve or other notable days — is a Japanese public holiday, including substitute and citizens' holidays — plus the longest holiday streaks and the story behind each one.

Last updated: 2026-08-31

Date	Holiday	Purpose
1/1/2027(Fri)	New Year's Day	Celebrates the new year
1/11/2027(Mon)	Coming of Age Day	Celebrates and encourages young people as they reach adulthood
2/11/2027(Thu)	National Foundation Day	Recalls the founding of the nation and cultivates love of the country
2/23/2027(Tue)	Emperor's Birthday	Celebrates the Emperor's birthday
3/21/2027(Sun)	Vernal Equinox Day	Reveres nature and cherishes all living things
3/22/2027(Mon)	Substitute Holiday
4/29/2027(Thu)	Showa Day	Reflects on the Showa era and looks to the future of the nation
5/3/2027(Mon)	Constitution Memorial Day	Commemorates the Constitution of Japan and hopes for the nation's growth
5/4/2027(Tue)	Greenery Day	Appreciates nature and its blessings, and cultivates a rich spirit
5/5/2027(Wed)	Children's Day	Respects children's individuality, seeks their happiness, and expresses gratitude to mothers
7/19/2027(Mon)	Marine Day	Gives thanks for the bounties of the ocean and hopes for Japan's prosperity as a maritime nation
8/11/2027(Wed)	Mountain Day	Creates opportunities for people to appreciate mountains and gives thanks for their blessings
9/20/2027(Mon)	Respect for the Aged Day	Honors the elderly who have contributed to society and celebrates their longevity
9/23/2027(Thu)	Autumnal Equinox Day	Honors one's ancestors and remembers those who have passed away
10/11/2027(Mon)	Sports Day	Enjoys sports, fosters a spirit of respect for others, and hopes for a healthy and vibrant society
11/3/2027(Wed)	Culture Day	Loves freedom and peace and promotes culture
11/23/2027(Tue)	Labor Thanksgiving Day	Honors labor, celebrates production, and expresses mutual gratitude among the people

Rank	Period	Days	Breakdown
🥇	5/1(Sat)–5/5(Wed)	5 days	Saturday・ Sunday・ Constitution Memorial Day・ Greenery Day・ Children's Day
🥈	1/1(Fri)–1/3(Sun)	3 days	New Year's Day・ Closed(Sat)・ Closed(Sun)
🥈	1/9(Sat)–1/11(Mon)	3 days	Saturday・ Sunday・ Coming of Age Day
🥈	3/20(Sat)–3/22(Mon)	3 days	Saturday・ Vernal Equinox Day(Sun)・ Substitute Holiday
🥈	7/17(Sat)–7/19(Mon)	3 days	Saturday・ Sunday・ Marine Day
🥈	9/18(Sat)–9/20(Mon)	3 days	Saturday・ Sunday・ Respect for the Aged Day
🥈	10/9(Sat)–10/11(Mon)	3 days	Saturday・ Sunday・ Sports Day

Article 1 of the Act on National Holidays states that the Japanese people, who ceaselessly seek freedom and peace, shall designate days on which the nation as a whole celebrates, expresses gratitude, or commemorates, naming these "National Holidays," in order to nurture beautiful customs and build a better society and richer lives.

Article 3 of the same Act states that when a National Holiday falls on a Sunday, the nearest non-holiday day after it becomes a holiday — this is the so-called Substitute Holiday (振替休日). Additionally, a non-holiday sandwiched between two National Holidays on either side also becomes a holiday, which is why years where Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day are separated by one day result in a 5-day holiday known as Silver Week.

Dec 31 through Jan 3, except for New Year's Day itself, are not official public holidays, but are observed as holidays by banks and most companies. In the calendar below, these days are marked with a gray "Closed" badge.

The Japan Holiday Calendar lists every public holiday defined by the Act on National Holidays for a given year, in date order, and also shows them in a month-by-month calendar view. Each holiday is paired with the official purpose written into law when it was established (for example, Children's Day exists to "respect the personality of children and seek their happiness"), so you can see the reasoning behind the date, not just the name.

Japanese holidays are not all fixed dates — Vernal and Autumnal Equinox Day shift each year based on astronomical observation, and several holidays (like Coming of Age Day) move under the "Happy Monday" system to always fall on a particular Monday. That mix makes a plain calendar hard to read at a glance, so this tool applies the Substitute Holiday and Citizens' Holiday rules automatically and lets you switch between the past 10 years and the following year.

Choose the year to view Click a year in the tabs at the top of the page. You can switch between the past 10 years and next year.
Check the holiday list Each row shows the date, holiday name, and legal purpose. Substitute Holidays and Citizens' Holidays appear as separate rows too.
Look at the streak ranking Consecutive breaks of 3 days or more — combining weekends, holidays, and the year-end closure (Dec 31, Jan 2–3) — are ranked from longest to shortest.
Scan the full-year calendar The calendar at the bottom of the page shows how holidays and closures line up month by month, so you can plan trips or shifts at a glance.

"Substitute Holiday" (振替休日) is the system where, when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday (or the nearest subsequent non-holiday) becomes a holiday instead.
"Citizens' Holiday" (国民の休日) is the system where a weekday sandwiched between two public holidays also becomes a holiday, which can create the extended Silver Week breaks.
"Sports Day" was renamed from "Health and Sports Day" (体育の日) in 2020. "Mountain Day" (山の日) is a relatively new public holiday, established in 2016.
Holiday schedules may change due to amendments to the law. Please check the Cabinet Office's official website for the latest information.

Spot the best long-weekend candidates in the streak ranking first, then work out travel dates and when to book accommodation.

Identify which holidays overlap with weekends and which don't across the whole year — useful groundwork for shift planning at shops or clinics.

Before setting an invoice or delivery date, confirm the holidays in that period here, then run the actual business-day count with the Business Days Calculator to avoid doing the work twice.

If you only need to know whether one particular day is a holiday, rather than browsing a full-year list, the Holiday Checker is the faster route.

National Holiday (国民の祝日): A holiday designated by the Act on National Holidays. As of 2026, there are 16 such holidays per year, from New Year's Day through Sports Day.
Substitute Holiday (振替休日): When a National Holiday falls on a Sunday, the nearest following non-holiday day becomes a day off instead. This does not apply when a holiday falls on a Saturday.
Citizens' Holiday (国民の休日): A weekday sandwiched between two National Holidays automatically becomes a day off. This happens in years when Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day are one day apart, producing the 3-day Silver Week break.
Act on National Holidays: The Japanese law enacted in 1948 that defines each holiday's type, date, and purpose, along with the Substitute Holiday rule.
Happy Monday System: A system that moved Coming of Age Day, Marine Day, Respect for the Aged Day, and Sports Day to a fixed Monday each month, creating 3-day weekends. Introduced in stages during the 2000s.
Silver Week: The informal name for the long break centered on Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day in September. It occurs irregularly, only in years when the Citizens' Holiday rule applies.

A Substitute Holiday applies when a public holiday falls on a Sunday — the next non-holiday weekday becomes a day off instead. A Citizens' Holiday occurs when a non-holiday weekday is sandwiched between two public holidays, automatically making it a day off as well.

These dates are determined by the astronomical position of the sun (the moment it crosses the equinox point), which shifts slightly each year due to the Earth's orbital cycle. The exact dates are officially announced by Cabinet Order in February of the preceding year.

No. Substitute holidays only apply when a public holiday falls on a Sunday. If a holiday falls on Saturday, no substitute day is given and that holiday is simply lost.

1
New Year's Day

11
Coming of Age Day

Japan has 16 statutory public holidays per year (since 2007), placing it among the higher counts in developed nations. The US has 11 federal holidays, the UK 8, and France 11. At the same time, Japan's paid vacation take-up rate has consistently ranked among the lowest in developed countries — a gap that public holidays are sometimes said to partially offset.

The "Happy Monday" system, introduced in the early 2000s, moved several holidays — Coming-of-Age Day, Marine Day, Respect for the Aged Day, and Health and Sports Day (now Sports Day) — to Mondays to create more 3-day weekends, with the aim of boosting tourism and consumer spending. As a result, "Health and Sports Day" (October 10), which had commemorated the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, lost its fixed date.

Among the more recently established holidays is "Mountain Day" (山の日, established 2016). It was created in the spirit of "Marine Day" (海の日, established 1941) as a counterpart for mountains, but the choice of August 11 as the date attracted attention at the time since there was no particular historical reason behind it.

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