About Culture Day
Culture Day (Bunka no Hi), on 3 November in Japan, promotes culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. The date was originally Tencho-setsu, the birthday of the Meiji Emperor — born 3 November 1852 — and from 1927 to 1947 was observed as Meiji-setsu. In 1948 the new postwar holiday law reinvented it as a day dedicated to peace, freedom and the development of culture, expressly tied to the promulgation of the Constitution of Japan on 3 November 1946. The two dates linked deliberately: a constitution renouncing war and ensuring sovereignty of the people on the same day Japan had once honoured an emperor. Culture Day is one of Japan's national holidays, and the Order of Culture and Persons of Cultural Merit awards are presented by the emperor at the Imperial Palace.
Culture Day is statistically the year's sunniest holiday in Japan and is used for outdoor cultural events. The Order of Culture awards ceremony at the Imperial Palace honours figures who have made distinguished contributions to art, literature, science or scholarship. Universities, libraries, museums and galleries hold open days and free admission; schools host bunkasai (school culture festivals) in the days surrounding the holiday, with student art exhibitions, choir performances, plays, food stalls and the smell of yakisoba grilling. Hakone holds the Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu, a procession recreating a feudal lord's progress in Edo-period regalia. Police forces and fire brigades parade in dress uniform. It is a popular day for weddings and traditional dance performances. The day is part of the autumn long weekend in many years, combined with the weekend to give a three- or four-day break.