Mountain Day
Japan so often does things differently. This week's Saturday Timewatch photo only goes back four years. However it marks August 11, a national Public Holiday in Japan called "Mountain Day" (山の日) that was first declared in 2014.
Mountain Day celebrates Japan's terrain and its connection to the nation's geography and culture. Japan's dramatic and mountainous landscape partly explains why so many live on the narrow coastal plains. Nevertheless, these same urban dwellers remain far more in touch with nature and their rural environments than many in the 'west' and just love to take their holiday opportunities to travel (often by public transport) back into Japan's mountainous heartlands.
Mountain Day
Japan so often does things differently. This week's Saturday Timewatch photo only goes back four years. However it marks August 11, a national Public Holiday in Japan called "Mountain Day" (山の日) that was first declared in 2014.
Mountain Day celebrates Japan's terrain and its connection to the nation's geography and culture. Japan's dramatic and mountainous landscape partly explains why so many live on the narrow coastal plains. Nevertheless, these same urban dwellers remain far more in touch with nature and their rural environments than many in the 'west' and just love to take their holiday opportunities to travel (often by public transport) back into Japan's mountainous heartlands.