Hover a line for its reading in kana and its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 0 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
Sign in to generate dialogues. It needs a pass — the first ten lessons of every course are free either way.
Why the whole country travels on the same four weekends
Japan has sixteen public holidays, more than most countries, and almost no tradition of taking the rest of your leave. Paid holiday goes largely unused — the government has had to legislate a minimum of five days taken per year — so people travel on the fixed national holidays instead, and they all travel at once. The result is four predictable crushes: New Year, Golden Week at the start of May, Obon in mid-August, and Silver Week around the September holidays. Fares rise, hotels fill months ahead, and the bullet train sells standing room. 連休 is the word for a run of days off, and 三連休 — a Monday holiday making three — is the one that happens most often, because several holidays were deliberately moved to Mondays in 2000 to create them.