Konnichiwa! 😊🇯🇵

I hope you’re enjoying the beginning of the fall season!

Here in Toronto, Canada, where I live, the weather is starting to get a little cooler and I’ve just started seeing the leaves change colour. 🍁

It’s such a beautiful time of year here!

Did you know that Japan is enjoying a 5-day holiday right now?

This year, Japan has what we call Silver Week (シルバーウィーク)! 🎉

You may have heard of Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク), Japan’s famous string of holidays in late April and early May.

When the holidays line up nicely in September, they can get another long holiday period called Silver Week!

This year, it runs from September 19–23:

📅 Saturday, September 19
📅 Sunday, September 20
👵 Monday, September 21 - Keirō no Hi (敬老の日): Respect for the Aged Day
🇯🇵 Tuesday, September 22 - Kokumin no Kyūjitsu (国民の休日): a special national holiday because it falls between 2 national holidays
🍁 Wednesday, September 23 —Shūbun no Hi (秋分の日): Autumnal Equinox Day

5 days off!! 😆🇯🇵

Keirō no Hi (敬老の日) is a national holiday for honouring and showing appreciation for older people and celebrating longevity.

When I was growing up in Japan, Keirō no Hi was always on September 15.

But since 2003, it has been celebrated on the 3rd Monday of September.

Whenever I think about Keirō no Hi, I think about my great-grandmother. ❤️

She lived into her 90s, and I was 8 years old when she passed away. ❤️

I feel very lucky that I had the opportunity to know my great-grandmother, and I think Keirō no Hi is a wonderful Japanese tradition.

It gives us a reason to stop and appreciate the older generations in our families and everything we can learn from them. 🥰

By the way, Silver Week isn't always this long!

The holidays have to fall on just the right days, so a 5-day Silver Week like this doesn't happen every year.

And unfortunately, the weather in Japan isn't exactly cooperating with the holiday right now! 😅

I spoke with my friend in Japan this morning, and apparently it has been raining really hard because of the typhoon. ☔️🌀

Hopefully everyone stays safe and still gets to enjoy some of their holiday!

Now, speaking of learning about Japan... 🇯🇵

🎥 This Week’s Japanese Lesson: Gojyūonhyō (五十音表)!

I just uploaded a brand new lesson explaining something that is VERY important for understanding Japanese pronunciation:

Gojyūonhyō (五十音表) : the Japanese syllable/sound chart!

What does Gojyūonhyō mean?

Gojyū (五十) = 50
On (音) = sound
Hyō (表) = chart/table

So literally,“50 sound chart.”

But why is it called the 50 sound chart when modern Japanese doesn't actually have a sound in every position? 🤔

That's one of the things I explain in this lesson! 😆

You'll learn how Japanese sounds are organized using the five vowels A, I, U, E, O, how the different sound rows work, why we say sounds such as shi, chi, tsu and fu, why there are some missing spaces in the chart, and even where the mysterious N (ん) fits in!

Once you understand the pattern behind Japanese sounds, Japanese pronunciation - and eventually Hiragana and Katakana - starts to make much more sense.

This is exactly how I love teaching Japanese: not just memorizing something, but understanding WHY it works! 😊🇯🇵

🎥Watch my new lesson here:

I hope you enjoy this week's lesson and learn something new about Japan at the same time! 🥰

Have a wonderful week ahead, and to everyone in Japan, enjoy Silver Week! 🇯🇵🍁

Jyā ne!

Satoko 😊🇯🇵
Japanese World Academy