Shōwa Day

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Shōwa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no hi^?) is a Japanese annual holiday held on April 29. It honours the birthday of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), the reigning Emperor before, during, and after World War II (from 1926 to 1989). The official purpose of the holiday is "To reflect on Japan's Shōwa period when recovery was made after turbulent days, and to think of the country's future."

Contents 1 History 2 Other 3 References 4 See also

[edit] History

Emperor Hirohito died on January 7, 1989. April 29 was subsequently no longer celebrated as The Emperor's Birthday but instead as Greenery Day, part of Japan's Golden Week. After a series of failed legislative attempts beginning in 2000, the April 29 holiday was finally renamed Shōwa Day in May 2005, and Greenery Day was moved from April 29 to May 4.

According to the main opposition party the Democratic Party of Japan (which backed the bill for the first time after many years of refusal), the holiday encourages public reflection of the turbulent 63 years of Hirohito's reign rather than glorifying the emperor himself.^[1]

Years	April 29	May 4
before 1985	The Emperor's Birthday	Non-holiday
1985-1988	The Emperor's Birthday	National day of rest
1989-2006	Greenery Day	National day of rest
2007-	Shōwa Day	Greenery Day

[edit] Other

Also, to honor the day, Nexon planned to release "Showa Town" into MapleStory global on Showa Day, 2008. However, management errors caused this event to be postponed by a week - the latest in a long line of player-perceived mishaps and general incompetence.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Holidays of Japan
• Japanese calendar