Mountain Day

Enacted on May 23, 2014, officials in Japan announced that they would celebrate and promote Mountain Day as a public holiday in the country. The purpose and idea behind the day is a simple one: get to know and appreciate the mountains and the blessings that come from them.

The law was put into action in 2014 but wasn’t actually enforced until 2016. For the years prior to the bill entering into law, it was a grassroots movement of mountain and outdoor supporters, as well as the Japanese Alpine Group, who lobbied to make the day into reality. A National Ceremony for Mountain Day that happened in the Japanese Alps at Kamikochi in Matsumoto, Nagao on the first celebration of the day.