Japan Has 16 National Holidays: The Substitute-Holiday Rule, and a Vernal Equinox Day Decided a Year Ahead

Japan’s “National Holidays” are fixed at 16 days a year under the Act on National Holidays (the Holidays Act; Act No. 178 of 1948). Article 3 of the same Act sets out both the “substitute holiday” that follows a holiday falling on a Sunday, and the “holiday” created on a weekday sandwiched between two holidays. Only the Vernal Equinox Day and the Autumnal Equinox Day have no month and day written into the law; they are fixed by the almanac the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan announces in February of the preceding year.

Below is based on the text of the Holidays Act and its amending Acts (e-Gov Japanese Law Search and the House of Representatives’ pages on enacted laws), the Cabinet Office’s “About National Holidays,” the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan’s almanac summary, the Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs, the Labor Standards Act, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Model Rules of Employment, as confirmed in September 2026. This article does not judge whether your own work or school is off on a holiday. Check your workplace’s rules of employment or your school’s guidance.

16 Holidays, and What the Law Says They Mean

Article 2 of the Holidays Act lists, for each holiday, its name, its date, and the meaning (purpose) of the day, all in a single table. Dates are set in four ways: a fixed month and day, a day of the week such as “the second Monday of January,” the vernal or autumnal equinox day, or a day set by cabinet order (National Foundation Day, set at February 11 by a 1966 cabinet order).

Name	Date under the law	2026	2027	Purpose stated in the law
New Year’s Day	January 1	January 1	January 1	To celebrate the beginning of the year.
Coming of Age Day	Second Monday of January	January 12	January 11	To encourage young people who have become aware of having reached adulthood to try to live on their own initiative, and to celebrate and support them.
National Foundation Day	A day set by cabinet order (February 11)	February 11	February 11	To remember the founding of the nation and foster a love of country.
The Emperor’s Birthday	February 23	February 23	February 23	To celebrate the birthday of the Emperor.
Vernal Equinox Day	The vernal equinox day	March 20	March 21	To praise nature and to cherish living things.
Showa Day	April 29	April 29	April 29	To look back on the turbulent days of the Showa era, through which the nation achieved recovery, and to reflect on the nation’s future.
Constitution Memorial Day	May 3	May 3	May 3	To commemorate the enforcement of the Constitution of Japan and to look forward to the growth of the nation.
Greenery Day	May 4	May 4	May 4	To become close to nature, be grateful for its blessings, and nurture a rich spirit.
Children’s Day	May 5	May 5	May 5	To respect children’s characters, seek their happiness, and be grateful to mothers.
Marine Day	Third Monday of July	July 20	July 19	To give thanks for the blessings of the sea and to wish for the prosperity of maritime Japan.
Mountain Day	August 11	August 11	August 11	To have opportunities to become familiar with mountains and to be grateful for their blessings.
Respect for the Aged Day	Third Monday of September	September 21	September 20	To love and respect elderly people who have long contributed to society, and to celebrate their longevity.
Autumnal Equinox Day	The autumnal equinox day	September 23	September 23	To revere our ancestors and remember the departed.
Sports Day	Second Monday of October	October 12	October 11	To enjoy sports, cultivate a spirit of respecting others, and wish for the realization of a healthy and vigorous society.
Culture Day	November 3	November 3	November 3	To love freedom and peace and to promote culture.
Labor Thanksgiving Day	November 23	November 23	November 23	To honor labor, celebrate production, and give mutual thanks among the people.

In addition, there are “holidays” under Article 3 of the Holidays Act: two in 2026 (May 6 and September 22) and one in 2027 (March 22). Counting from the Cabinet Office’s list, the days that are holidays under the law come to 18 in 2026 and 17 in 2027.

When a Holiday Falls on a Sunday: The Holiday Under Article 3, Paragraph 2

Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Holidays Act provides as follows.

When a “National Holiday” falls on a Sunday, the day nearest to that day, after that day, that is not a “National Holiday” shall be a holiday.

Act on National Holidays, Article 3, paragraph 2 (e-Gov Japanese Law Search, confirmed September 2026)

This is the holiday generally called the “substitute holiday” (furikae kyujitsu). The words “substitute holiday” do not themselves appear in the text of the law. The Cabinet Office explains it as “the holiday known as the so-called ‘substitute holiday.'”

The meaning of writing “the day nearest that is not a ‘National Holiday'” rather than simply “the following day” can be seen in May 2026. May 3 (Constitution Memorial Day) fell on a Sunday, and since the following days, May 4 and 5, were also holidays, the holiday fell on Wednesday, May 6. In 2027, Vernal Equinox Day, March 21, falls on a Sunday, and the following day, March 22 (a Monday), becomes the holiday.

Old Wording and New Wording: From “the Following Day” to “the Nearest Day That Is Not a Holiday”

This provision did not exist when the Act was enacted in 1948. A 1973 amendment (Act No. 10 of Showa 48) added the sentence “when a ‘National Holiday’ falls on a Sunday, the following day shall be a holiday,” and in the Cabinet Office’s list of holidays, April 30 of that same year (when the Emperor’s Birthday on April 29 fell on a Sunday) is the first example. The present wording dates from a 2005 amendment (Act No. 43 of Heisei 17), which took effect on January 1, 2007. The same amendment made April 29 into Showa Day and moved Greenery Day to May 4.

A Day Sandwiched Between Holidays: The Holiday Under Article 3, Paragraph 3

A day whose preceding day and following day are both “National Holidays” (limited to a day that is not itself a “National Holiday”) shall be a holiday.

Act on National Holidays, Article 3, paragraph 3 (e-Gov Japanese Law Search, confirmed September 2026)

This provision was added by a 1985 amendment (Act No. 103 of Showa 60). It was meant to make May 4, sandwiched between Constitution Memorial Day and Children’s Day, a holiday, and until Greenery Day moved to May 4 in 2007, that is what made May 4 a holiday under this provision (per the Cabinet Office’s explanation).

Today this provision mainly comes into play in September. Respect for the Aged Day (the third Monday of September) moves between September 15 and 21, and the autumnal equinox day also moves between September 22 and 24. Only in a year when the two holidays line up with a single day between them does the Tuesday in between become a holiday. Counting from the Cabinet Office’s list of holidays (1955-2027), since Respect for the Aged Day moved to a Monday in 2003, this has produced a holiday in this way three times: 2009, 2015, and September 22, 2026.

The Vernal and Autumnal Equinox Days Are Decided in February of the Preceding Year

The Holidays Act only writes Vernal Equinox Day as “the vernal equinox day” and Autumnal Equinox Day as “the autumnal equinox day,” without fixing a month and day. “Vernal equinox day” and “autumnal equinox day” are astronomical terms referring to the day that contains the moment (the vernal or autumnal equinox) when the sun passes the vernal or autumnal equinoctial point.

According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the date is officially fixed as a holiday when the “almanac summary” (rekiyoko), stating the following year’s vernal and autumnal equinox days, is published in the Official Gazette on February 1 of the preceding year (or, if February 1 is a holiday for administrative organs, on the first subsequent day it is published). The 2027 almanac summary was announced on February 2, 2026, giving a Vernal Equinox Day of March 21, 2027 and an Autumnal Equinox Day of September 23, 2027.

The dates from 2028 onward have not yet been officially decided. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has published calculated results through 2050 on the assumption that the Earth’s motion remains as it is now, but qualifies these as “purely for reference.” The Cabinet Office likewise states that the 2028 holidays will be posted in February 2027.

From 9 Days to 16: A Timeline of Amendments to the Holidays Act

When the Holidays Act was promulgated and took effect on July 20, 1948, it listed 9 holidays: New Year’s Day, Coming of Age Day, Vernal Equinox Day, the Emperor’s Birthday, Constitution Memorial Day, Children’s Day, Autumnal Equinox Day, Culture Day, and Labor Thanksgiving Day. The Cabinet Office explains that before the Holidays Act was enacted, a 1927 imperial ordinance had made 11 festival and holiday days off each year. The amendments since then are as follows.

Year of promulgation (effective)	Content of the amendment	Act
1948 (same day)	Enacts the Holidays Act. 9 holidays	Act No. 178 of Showa 23
1966 (same day)	Adds National Foundation Day (date to be set by cabinet order; fixed at February 11 by a cabinet order in December of the same year), Respect for the Aged Day (September 15), and Health-Sports Day (October 10)	Act No. 86 of Showa 41
1973 (same day)	Makes the day after a holiday falling on a Sunday a holiday	Act No. 10 of Showa 48
1985 (same day)	Makes a day sandwiched between holidays a holiday	Act No. 103 of Showa 60
1989 (same day)	Makes April 29 Greenery Day. Moves the Emperor’s Birthday to December 23	Act No. 5 of Heisei 1
1995 (1996)	Adds Marine Day (July 20)	Act No. 22 of Heisei 7
1998 (2000)	Moves Coming of Age Day to the second Monday of January and Health-Sports Day to the second Monday of October	Act No. 141 of Heisei 10
2001 (2003)	Moves Marine Day to the third Monday of July and Respect for the Aged Day to the third Monday of September	Act No. 59 of Heisei 13
2005 (2007)	Makes April 29 Showa Day and moves Greenery Day to May 4. Changes the substitute holiday to “the nearest day that is not a holiday”	Act No. 43 of Heisei 17
2014 (2016)	Adds Mountain Day (August 11)	Act No. 43 of Heisei 26
2017 (May 1, 2019)	Moves the Emperor’s Birthday to February 23 (amended by the supplementary provisions of the Special Act on the Imperial House Act Concerning Abdication of the Emperor and Other Matters)	Act No. 63 of Heisei 29
2018 (2020)	Renames Health-Sports Day as Sports Day and revises its stated purpose	Act No. 57 of Heisei 30

Regarding the 1998 and 2001 amendments that moved Coming of Age Day and others to Mondays, the Cabinet Office explains that the aim was to increase consecutive holidays, enrich leisure time, and help realize an affluent national life. According to e-Gov Japanese Law Search, as of September 2026 there is no amendment to the Holidays Act awaiting enforcement.

A Special Arrangement Only From 2019 Through 2021

In three of these years, the days off changed under laws separate from the Holidays Act.

• 2019: Under the Act on Holidays for the Day of Enthronement of the Emperor and the Day of the Ceremony of Enthronement (Act No. 99 of Heisei 30), the Day of Enthronement (May 1) and the Day of the Ceremony of Enthronement (October 22) became holidays. This Act provided that these two days were to be treated as “National Holidays” under the Holidays Act for the purposes of Article 3, paragraphs 2 and 3, so April 30 and May 2, on either side of May 1, also became holidays as days sandwiched between holidays. Because the Emperor’s Birthday moved from May 1 to February 23 in 2019, there was no Emperor’s Birthday holiday that year. Counting from the Cabinet Office’s list, the holidays and holidays-under-Article-3 for that year came to 22 days
• 2020: To align with the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Marine Day moved to July 23, Health-Sports Day (renamed Sports Day that year) to July 24, and Mountain Day to August 10 (by an amendment to the special measures act under Act No. 55 of Heisei 30)
• 2021: To align with the postponement of the Games, Marine Day moved to July 22, Sports Day to July 23, and Mountain Day to August 8 (Act No. 68 of Reiwa 2). Because August 8 was a Sunday, August 9 became the holiday under Article 3, paragraph 2

Who Gets the Day Off on a Holiday

Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Holidays Act states that “‘National Holidays’ shall be holidays.” Who takes the day off, and how, under this “holiday” is decided by each relevant law or rule.

Where	Treatment of the holiday	Basis
National government offices	Saturdays and Sundays, holidays under the Holidays Act, and December 29 through January 3 are treated as “holidays for administrative organs,” and offices do not, in principle, conduct business	Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs, Article 1
Prefectures and municipalities	Holidays are set by ordinance, covering Sundays and Saturdays, holidays under the Holidays Act, and the year-end and New Year period	Local Autonomy Act, Article 4-2
Public elementary, junior high, and high schools	Days provided for under the Holidays Act are treated as non-attendance days, unless the board of education deems it necessary to hold classes anyway	Ordinance for Enforcement of the School Education Act, Article 61 (applied to junior high schools under Article 79, and to high schools under Article 104)
Companies and other workplaces	The Labor Standards Act requires only “at least one holiday per week” (or, alternatively, at least 4 days over a period of 4 weeks). Whether holidays are made days off is decided by the rules of employment and similar rules	Labor Standards Act, Article 35

For companies, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Model Rules of Employment (December 2025 version) gives “National Holidays (the following day if one coincides with a Sunday)” as a sample holiday clause, while its commentary states that “the Labor Standards Act does not provide which day of the week is to be a holiday, or whether National Holidays are to be holidays.” Whether you get a holiday off, and how your pay is treated if you work on a holiday, is decided by your written notice of working conditions and your rules of employment. A company that regularly employs 10 or more people must draw up rules of employment and file them with the labour standards inspection office; the fuller set of rules protecting workers is summarized in our article on the rules that protect workers in Japan. If you are unsure, check with the person in charge at your workplace or with the labour standards inspection office.

The Same Words, “Substitute Holiday,” Mean Something Different at Work

The “substitute holiday” used at workplaces is a different thing from the holiday under the Holidays Act. According to the commentary to the Model Rules of Employment, when, for example, someone needs to work on a Sunday, swapping a workday such as Monday with a holiday in advance is called a “substitute holiday” (furikae kyujitsu), which is distinguished from a “compensatory day off” (daikyu), where a different day is made a day off after someone has already worked on a holiday. The words are the same as the holiday under Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Holidays Act, but the content is different.

“Golden Week” Is Not a Term in the Law

The term “Golden Week,” referring to the run of consecutive holidays from late April to early May, does not appear in the text of the Holidays Act. However, in explaining the reason for moving Greenery Day to May 4, the Cabinet Office itself uses the phrase “May 4, a day within Golden Week.”

How This Differs From Ukraine’s Public Holidays

Ukraine’s public holidays are listed in Article 73 of the Labor Code. There is also a provision (Article 67) that makes the following day a day off when a holiday falls on a weekend, but during martial law these provisions are not applied. For more, see our article on Ukraine’s Independence Day and public holidays; the story of how the calendar reform moved Christmas to December 25 is in our article on Ukrainian Christmas.