Silver Week

● original essay ●

This year we have Silver Week but I’ve never heard it before. It seems a week with consecutive holidays around Autumnal Equinox Day of September. (From Sep 19 to 23)

In Japan, we have Golden Week during the first week of May. Golden Week and Silver Week, who did decide to use a color? I knew why we began to call a week during the first week of May Golden Week. It must be from a tag line for a movie company of Hollywood. So NHK, a national TV station in Japan doesn’t use or say Golden Week during their programs. They say just the large consecutive holidays because NHK doesn’t advertise any companies or products. If they used it, it would become an advertising of the movie company.

How about Silver Week, why we call the consecutive holidays around Autumnal Equinox Day Silver Week. I have two possibilities in my mind. The first one is very simple, we already had Gold that why we chose Silver. If we have other large consecutive holidays, it might be Copper Week. The second one is that the word of Silver expresses the aged in Japan; Silver Seat (a priority seat for the aged), Silver discount (a discount for the aged). Silver Week included Respect-for-the-Aged-Day (keirou no hi) so we chose Silver.

Whatever my guesstimating is right or not, I don’t have any special plan. I will just spend time with my friends as same as usual day off; eating delicious food, drinking and laughing.

● corrected essay ●

This year we have Silver Week but I’ve never heard it before. It is a week with consecutive holidays around the Autumnal Equinox Day of September. (From Sep 19 to 23)

In Japan, we have Golden Week during the first week of May. Golden Week and Silver Week, I wonder who decided to use these colors? I know why we began to call the week during the first week of May Golden Week. It must be from a tag line for a movie company in Hollywood. So NHK, a national TV station in Japan doesn’t use or say Golden Week during their programs. They just say “large consecutive holidays” because NHK doesn’t advertise any companies or products. If they used it, it would become advertising for a movie company.

How about Silver Week? Why do we call the consecutive holidays around Autumnal Equinox Day Silver Week? In my mind, there are two possibilities. The first one is very simple, we already had Gold so that’s why we chose Silver. If we have other large consecutive holidays, it might be Copper Week. The second one is that the word “Silver” expresses the aged in Japan; Silver Seat (a priority seat for the aged), Silver discount (a discount for the aged). Silver Week includes Respect-for-the-Aged-Day (keirou no hi) so that might be why we chose Silver.

Whatever my guesstimating is right or not (or whether or not my guesstimating is right), I don’t have any special plans. I will just spend time with my friends as usual; eating delicious food, drinking and laughing.