8℃

The factor that influences the start of autumn foliage is temperature. When the minimum temperature falls below 8°C, the leaves begin to change color. 8°C is even said to be the “switch” for autumn foliage. Also, if days around 5°C continue, the foliage progresses rapidly. Conditions that make the foliage vivid and beautiful include large temperature differences between day and night and plenty of sunlight.

Hokkaido

Tofu is a traditional Japanese ingredient and a nutritious health food. To promote tofu, October 2 was established as Tofu Day. The choice of October 2 comes from a play on words. Tofu is made from soybeans, and the prefecture with the highest production in Japan is Hokkaido. Miyagi ranks second, and Saga is third.

Because the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was held.

On October 10, 1964, the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics—the first ever held in Japan—took place. To commemorate this, October 10 was designated as a national holiday called Health and Sports Day. After revisions to the public holiday law, the name was changed to Sports Day in 2020. Additionally, there was a change in the date, moving it to the second Monday of October.

Grandparents' Day

The third Sunday of October is Grandchildren’s Day. It was established by the Japan Department Stores Association on a date about one month after Respect for the Aged Day, which falls on the third Monday of September. It would be nice if it became a day when you can enjoy communicating with your grandchildren—talking, playing, and having fun together.

Autumn Harvest

One of Halloween’s symbolic colors, orange, is said to represent the autumn harvest. It’s also used as a color symbolizing sunlight and blessings. Other symbolic colors include black and purple. Black represents winter nights, darkness, and black creatures, while purple is said to represent the moon’s light and the nighttime moonlight.

Obon (the Japanese Buddhist Festival of the Dead)

In Japan, Halloween is becoming a day to enjoy costumes, but it was originally a holiday similar to Obon. Halloween is said to be a festival that originated in Europe more than 2,000 years ago. In the calendar of that time, October 30 was like New Year’s Eve, and the day was celebrated as the start of the new year and the harvest. It was also believed to be the day when ancestors, along with evil spirits and witches, would descend. There is even a theory that people wore costumes so that evil spirits and demons wouldn’t recognize them as human and do them harm.

panda

On October 28, 1972, a certain animal was presented to Ueno Zoo from China. That animal was the panda. When you think of Ueno Zoo, many of you probably think of pandas. A male named Kang Kang and a female named Lan Lan were gifted. It’s said that back then, people formed a line over two kilometers long just to catch a glimpse of the big, adorable black-and-white pandas.