There's even a day for the Little Prince in Japan

The Little Prince or Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was so popular in Japan once that they even dedicated a day to the story. Today, June 29th. The date was chosen because it is the birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery and also because it marked the anniversary of the opening of the Little Prince Museum in Hakone. 

Unfortunately, the Little Prince Museum closed its doors permanently on March 31st 2023. And we lost other Little Prince themed locations during the pandemic too. For example, in my own prefecture of Saitama, we had a Little Prince Parking Area until the pandemic. It was fabulous, but now it has been turned into a boring, plain parking area. 

However, you can still find some places that are dedicated to the Little Prince. Such as, Little Prince themed rooms at Tokinosumika in Gotemba. They have a giant Little Prince on the grounds of the resort too, pictured, which they light up half of the year as part of their night illumination.

Are you familiar with the Little Prince / Le Petit Prince? Have you ever seen any of the Little Prince themed locations in Japan?