[For Seniors] Enjoy Brain Training with September Trivia Quizzes & Fun Facts

2009

The first occurrence of the long autumn holiday period known as Silver Week was in 2009. In 1985, the Public Holiday Law was revised so that a weekday sandwiched between national holidays would become a holiday. In September 2009, for the first time since the revision, there was a single weekday between Respect for the Aged Day and the Autumnal Equinox Day, and because it connected to the preceding weekend, it created a five-day holiday. When Respect for the Aged Day and the Autumnal Equinox Day are separated by one weekday, the system that turns that weekday into a holiday combines with adjacent weekends to produce up to a five-day break. Silver Week has appeared every few years since then, but it does not occur annually; it’s an unusual holiday period that depends on how the calendar falls.

Because it only becomes a consecutive holiday when two holidays fall in a specific sequence

Silver Week occurs only when two holidays in September—Respect for the Aged Day and the Autumnal Equinox Day—fall with just a single weekday between them. Because of this, many years do not produce a long weekend, depending on how the calendar falls. Since this alignment happens only every few years, it is not an annual, regular holiday period.

1950s

The term “Silver Week” was coined in Japan’s film industry in the 1950s to boost publicity by capitalizing on the excitement of the autumn holiday period. It didn’t catch on with the general public at the time, but regained attention in the 2000s when national holidays lined up to create a longer break. Thus, the origin of the term is surprisingly old—it was conceived long before it became widely used.

Publicity in the film industry

Silver Week is said to have originated in the 1950s, when the film industry began using the term to promote movie attendance during the large autumn holiday period. Much like Golden Week, they wanted to position the extended holidays as an opportunity to go to the movies, hence the use of “silver.” Although the timing of the autumn holidays now varies each year depending on how the public holidays line up, the name took hold thanks to this marketing strategy by the film industry.

Platinum Week

Silver Week is named for silver as a counterpart to Golden Week, but it is occasionally called Platinum Week. Because the consecutive holidays in September do not occur every year—depending on how the public holidays fall—people used the name of the more valuable metal, platinum.

cosmos (flower)

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