🧮 Calculators & Daily Life

Japanese Public Holidays

Pick a year to see every Japanese national holiday, substitute holiday and citizens' holiday — computed from the actual holiday-law rules, not a lookup table. Long weekends (3+ days) are extracted automatically, with a countdown to the next holiday. Covers 2000–2099. Everything runs in your browser.

Examples (click to try)
Public holidays
Long weekends (3+)
DateDayHoliday
Long weekends (3+ days incl. weekends)

    Future years are projections based on current law. The equinox holidays are officially fixed in February of the preceding year.

    How to use

    Enter a year (or step with the Prev / Next buttons) to list that year's holidays. They are computed from the rules of Japan's holiday law rather than a built-in table, so any year from 2000 to 2099 works. Stretches of 3 or more days off (weekends joined with holidays) are extracted automatically, and if you are viewing the current year you also get a countdown to the next holiday. "Copy list" exports everything as text.

    Japan's public holiday system

    Japan has 16 national holidays a year — among the most of any country — and they shape travel like nothing else: trains, flights and hotels fill up and prices spike around them. The famous cluster is Golden Week (late April to early May), when four holidays land within a week. Several holidays follow the "Happy Monday" system: they are pinned to a Monday (e.g. Coming of Age Day = 2nd Monday of January) to create guaranteed three-day weekends. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the next non-holiday day becomes a substitute holiday; and a lone weekday squeezed between two holidays becomes a citizens' holiday — the rare alignment that produces "Silver Week" in September. Note that Obon (mid-August) and the New Year break (Dec 29–Jan 3) are not legal holidays, even though much of the country is off. If you are planning a trip to Japan, checking this calendar first is genuinely worth it — either to ride the festive mood or to dodge the crowds.

    Example

    In September 2026, the 19th (Sat) through the 23rd (Wed) form a 5-day break: Sunday the 20th, Respect for the Aged Day on the 21st, a citizens' holiday on the 22nd and Autumnal Equinox Day on the 23rd. This "Silver Week" alignment only happens every few years — this tool spots it instantly.

    Related tools

    To count working days excluding these holidays, try the Japan Business Days Calculator; for a child's 7-5-3 festival years, see the Shichi-Go-San Year Calculator.

    FAQ

    Is my data sent to a server?
    No. All holiday calculations run in your browser; nothing is transmitted or stored externally.
    Are future holidays final?
    No — they are projections based on current law. In particular, Vernal and Autumnal Equinox Days follow astronomical calculations and are only fixed officially in February of the preceding year. Law changes or one-off exceptions may alter them.
    Are past exceptions covered?
    Yes. The 2019 enthronement holidays and the 2020–2021 Tokyo Olympics moves of Marine Day, Mountain Day and Sports Day are reflected.
    What are substitute holidays and citizens' holidays?
    When a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next day that is not a holiday becomes a substitute holiday (furikae kyujitsu). A weekday sandwiched between two national holidays becomes a citizens' holiday (kokumin no kyujitsu), as with September 22, 2026.
    Which years are supported?
    2000 to 2099. The simplified equinox formula used here is valid in this range, so other years cannot be calculated.