Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan

Japan's Nagano Labor Festival

With the celebration of Japan’s Labor Thanksgiving Day, some activities are specifically held during the day. The Nagano Labor Festival is an example of such activities. This festival takes place in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture and is typically arranged by several local labor organizations. The event is held for the purpose of raising awareness to the Japanese people regarding issues involving peace, workers and human rights, and other environmental-related topics.

Japan's Nagano Ebisu-ko Fireworks Display

Since this Labor Festival coincides with the night when the Nagano Ebisu-ko fireworks display occurs, many people from across the country would likely visit and attend the Nagano Labor Festival first, before partaking on the fireworks display occurring at a later time (usually 6-8pm). The Nagano Ebisu-ko Fireworks Festival is one of the largest festivals observed during the autumn season in Japan, thus, it is expected for several Japanese to come and visit the Nagano city, to take part of the activity.

Showing Appreciation to Country's Workers

With its observance, many students across the country (especially those from the nursery or elementary years) spend some time to prepare special drawings, outputs, or thank you cards, to be handed out to the workers in their neighborhood. These illustrations are made by the young children to show appreciation and gratitude to the country’s workers and how important the roles they play in the Japanese society. Police and military officers, health workers, firefighters, teachers, personnels (from various government and non-government organizations), and many other workers from other offices, are the recipients of these drawings. Small gifts are even given together with these drawings by some children. It may not be much but receiving such heart-warming presents, illustrations, and messages from the younger population is definitely a beautiful memory.

Spending Quality Time with Families and Friends

Although the Labor Festival in Nagano (added with the Nagano Ebisu-ko fireworks display) is a big event, the holiday doesn’t necessarily showcase any large parades or other big events on this day. Hence, several Japanese would just usually spend the holiday together with their families. Many of them choose to stay and rest at home while enjoying a special home-cooked meal. Some others choose to go out instead to enjoy the holiday with their loved ones.

A visit to the theme parks and amusement parks is typically the first choice. Few others also tend to go on shopping on this day. On the other hand, there are also other Japanese who prefer to take advantage of the holiday by traveling to the countryside to relax and marvel at the countryside’s magnificent view during the autumn season.

Special Meal

In addition, there is also no specific food to be eaten during the holiday, however, a special meal or dinner is still served by several Japanese families as a special treat for their hardworking family members (mothers/fathers). The Japanese are well-known for being punctual and hardworking at work, especially since the country has also one of the longest working hours in the world. Thus, Labor Thanksgiving Day is the best time to express gratitude and appreciation towards every Japanese laborer/worker who has worked hard enough and made contributions to the progress of the community and the country. In the modern Japanese society, it was said that the harvest festival, Niiname-sai, was still observed every 23rd of November, but only privately done by the Imperial family. As for the rest of the Japanese people, they are now currently observing the nation’s Labor Thanksgiving Day.