|
is a national holiday in the Japanese calendar celebrated on 23 December of each year. The date is determined by the reigning Emperor's birthdate.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Japanese Holidays )〕 Emperor Akihito was born on 23 December, 1933.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/11626/Akihito )〕 During the reign of Hirohito (Shōwa period, 1926–1989), the Emperor's birthday was observed on 29 April.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Emperor Hirohito )〕 That date remained a public holiday, posthumously renamed Greenery Day in 1989 and Shōwa Day in 2007.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Golden Week )〕 Prior to World War II, it was called , "Tenchō Festival". ''Tenchōsetsu'' paralleled , "Chikyū Festival", which referred to the empress consort's birthday. The two names originate from the Chinese chengyu 天長地久, borrowed during the reign of Emperor Kōnin, meaning "long heaven, lasting earth" and expressed a hope for the longevity of the reigning emperor. After the war, the new government renamed it ''Tennō tanjōbi'', in less formal language with a more literal meaning, in 1948, when it was established as a holiday by law. Under the law, the Diet of Japan must convene and change the holiday date before the reigning emperor's birthday becomes a public holiday.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tenno No Tanjobi celebrates the Emperor's birthday in Japan )〕 Thus, there exists a small chance that the former emperor's birthday may come before the change can be made. On 23 December, a public ceremony takes place at the Imperial Palace, where the gates of the palace are opened to public traffic. (The Imperial Palace is usually off limits to the public.) The Emperor, accompanied by Empress Michiko and several other members of the Imperial family, appears on a palace balcony to acknowledge the birthday congratulations of crowds of festive well-wishers waving tiny Japanese flags. Only on this occasion and on 2 January may the general public enter the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace.〔 When the Emperor ceases his greeting (however brief), the crowd starts waving the flags again and the Imperial Family wave back.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Traditional Annual Events )〕 == References == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Emperor's Birthday」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|