A day for the towies!

Today, and October 19th annually, is Tow Truck Day, called "rekka no hi" レッカーの日 in Japanese. The anniversary was established by the Japan Highway & Road Towing Service Cooperative, which is based in Tokyo. I think you may agree that any respect for tow trucks needs to be bestowed on their drivers too, who are informally called "towies" in many English speaking countries. 

A "rekka" is the Japanese word for a tow truck. A tow truck is a truck that tows a vehicle that is unable to move on its own, often due to an accident or breakdown. In some countries, tow trucks also have the role of removing vehicles that are illegally parked or have been abandoned. In Japan, they also can play a role in disaster relief activites. Whichever way you look at it, they play an indispensable and important role in society.

The reason October 19th was chosen as "Tow Truck Day" is because 10/19 can be read as "towing". Ten (10) is "to" and nineteen (19) for "ingu". On this day you can usually find some posts on social media with the hashtag "rekka no hi" (tow truck day) "#レッカーの日".