There is a holiday called Labour Thanksgiving Day (Kinrô
kansha no hi) in Japan. It is a national holiday in Japan and it takes place
annually on November 23. It is held as an occasion for commemorating labour and
production and giving one another thanks.
Events are held throughout Japan in this holiday, such as Nagano
Labour Festival. The event encourages thinking about the environment, peace and
human rights. It is not unusual for early grade elementary students to create
drawings for the holiday and give them as gifts to local kobans, or police
stations.
Labor Thanksgiving Day is actually the modern version for an
ancient rice harvest festival known as Niiname-sai , believed to have been held
as long ago as November of 678. Traditionally, it celebrated the year’s hard
work; during the Niiname-sai ceremony, the Emperor would dedicate the year’s harvest
to kami (spirits), and taste the rice for the fi rst time.
The modern holiday was established after World War II in
1948 as a day to mark some of the changes of the postwar constitution of Japan,
including fundamental human rights and the expansion of workers rights.
Currently Niiname-sai is held privately by the Imperial Family while Labour
Thanksgiving Day has become a national holiday.
Taken from: Interlanguage: English for Senior
High School Students XI
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