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.
What this Japanese holiday checker tells you
Pick a single date on the calendar and this tool tells you at once whether it is a Japanese public holiday. If it is, you get the name; if it is a substitute holiday, it says so; and if it is an ordinary day, it shows the day of the week. It suits the moment you simply want to check one date — whether a day next month was a holiday, or whether it is sensible to contact a business partner then.
The judgement rests on the Act on National Holidays. Alongside the holidays the Act itself designates, the tool distinguishes substitute holidays — when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the next working day becomes a holiday — and so-called citizens’ holidays, where a working day sandwiched between two holidays becomes one as well. Dates from 2017 to 2027 are covered; anything outside that range returns a message saying so.
How to check a date
- Choose the date Tap or click the date field at the top of the screen and pick the day you want from the calendar.
- Read the verdict As soon as you select, a badge shows one of: public holiday, substitute holiday, weekend, or ordinary working day.
- Check the holiday’s name Where the date is a public or substitute holiday, its official name appears beneath the badge.
- Adjust if the date is out of range Dates outside 2017 to 2027 produce an error message, so pick one inside the supported range.
Tips for getting more out of it
- 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. This tool marks New Year's Eve and January 2–3 separately as "It is a Customary Day Off," while still making clear they are not official public holidays (December 29–30 fall outside this range and still 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.
When this is useful
Confirming a delivery or dispatch date
Before telling a business partner when goods will arrive, check that the day is not a holiday on which they will be closed.
Checking a medical or service appointment
Before booking a hospital visit or an appointment, confirm on the spot that the date does not fall on a holiday when the place is shut.
Planning school events and deadlines
When arranging dates for a sports day or a submission deadline, check immediately whether the candidates collide with a holiday or a substitute holiday.
Setting an invoice or payment due date
Check whether the date you want as a payment deadline is a holiday, and decide whether it needs shifting to a business day.
Terms used with Japanese holidays
- National holiday (国民の祝日)
- The sixteen days a year individually designated by Article 2 of the Act on National Holidays. New Year’s Day, Coming of Age Day, National Foundation Day and the rest each have their date, or the rule for deriving it, written into the law.
- Substitute holiday (振替休日)
- Provided for in Article 3(2) of the Act: when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following working day becomes a holiday. A holiday falling on a Saturday does not trigger one.
- Citizens’ holiday (国民の休日)
- Provided for in Article 3(3): a working day sandwiched between two holidays itself becomes a holiday. The weekday between Respect for the Aged Day and the Autumnal Equinox in September is the familiar case.
- Happy Monday system
- The arrangement that fixes certain holidays as "the nth Monday", making three-day weekends easier to form. Coming of Age Day, Marine Day, Respect for the Aged Day and Sports Day are the holidays concerned.
- Customary closing days
- Days that are not holidays in law but on which many banks, companies and public offices close. This tool marks New Year’s Eve and the 2nd and 3rd of January separately on that basis.
- Act on National Holidays (祝日法)
- The short name for the law enacted in 1948. It sets out which days are holidays and defines substitute holidays and citizens’ holidays — the provisions this tool’s judgement rests on.
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.