Another good couples day

Yesterday, November 22nd, is pretty widely known in Japan as "Good Couples Day". But did you know that November 23rd is also "Good Couples day"? The difference is in the Japanese. November 22nd is "ii fufu no hi" いい夫婦の日 and November 23rd is "ii fusai no hi" いい夫妻の日. 

Fusai 夫妻 means husband and wife or man and wife, whereas Fufu 夫婦 has more of a nuisance of married couple. The difference is subtle. The November 23rd anniversary was established by "Anniversaire", a company that operates wedding halls and party venues all over the country. In my prefecture of Saitama, they have a very popular venue in Omiya, that is not just for weddings, but they have restaurants too, including one where you can get fun seasonal afternoon tea. 

The company calls this day "a day to support a wonderful couple." In addition, by establishing an anniversary, it contains the desire to "provide happy news to the world". Afterall, their company is named after the French for anniversary. But reportedly it is also derived from the famous painting, 'L'Anniversaire', (Birthday in English) by French painter Marc Chagall (1887~1985)  in honor of his soon-to-be wife, who he married shortly after completing the painting.