Holiday Checker (Is This Day a Holiday?)
Select a single date to instantly check whether it is a Japanese public holiday or substitute holiday. The day of the week is also shown at the same time.
Tips
- A substitute holiday (振替休日) is a system in which, when a Sunday coincides with a public holiday, the next weekday becomes a day off instead. If a date shows "It is a Substitute Holiday," it means the day itself is not the original holiday, but a day off granted in its place.
- The New Year holiday period (December 29 to January 3) is not a public holiday under the law, though many companies, banks, and government offices close during it. Since this tool only checks legally defined holidays, New Year's Eve and January 2–3 will show "It is a Weekday."
- If you want to see all holidays at a glance, our sister tool, the Holiday List Calendar, is convenient — it also shows rankings of long weekends.
- The supported range is 2017–2027. Temporary holidays tied to imperial ceremonies (such as the Enthronement Day) are also reflected as long as they fall within this range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — The Surprising History of "National Holidays" and Substitute Holidays
Japan's "Act on National Holidays" (祝日法) was enacted in 1948. It originally started with nine holidays, and over the years new ones were added and renamed — such as Health and Sports Day (体育の日) in 1966 and Greenery Day (みどりの日) in 1989 — eventually growing to the current sixteen days.
The substitute holiday system was introduced in 1973. At first it only made the following Monday a day off when a Sunday coincided with a holiday, but a 2005 revision clarified the concept of a "national holiday" (国民の休日) — a weekday sandwiched between two holidays also becomes a day off. This change also helped eliminate awkward single working days during Golden Week.
Because holidays are determined by the promulgation of a law, some are not officially finalized until the year or two before they occur (such as special measures tied to hosting the Olympics). The fact that "next year's holiday calendar can be finalized surprisingly late" is a handy piece of trivia for anyone planning travel or vacations.