Respect for the Aged Day
21 September 2026 · movable holiday — Long life and good health to all who teach us wisdom!
Keirō no Hi, Respect for the Aged Day, is a national holiday in Japan. It began in 1947, when the village of Nomadani in Hyōgo Prefecture held a day to honour its elders, called Toshiyori no Hi. The idea spread across the country, and in 1966 it became a national holiday observed on 15 September. Since 2003 it has fallen on the third Monday of September under the Happy Monday system, which moves certain holidays to Mondays to create long weekends. People visit grandparents, give them small gifts, flowers or sweets, and say thank you. Local authorities often congratulate their oldest residents. In Japan the crane is a symbol of longevity and good fortune, which is why it carries our sky travellers. The holiday comes in early autumn, shortly before the autumn equinox, when day and night are nearly equal in length, in the second half of September.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and thin lines, like a constellation drifting across the sky: a long-bearded grandfather and a grandmother with a little walking stick, riding a graceful crane with wide outstretched wings
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