Time Memorial Day; it may even become a public holiday

I absolutely adore that Japan has a Time Memorial Day 時の記念日 (Toki no kinenbi) that honors the importance of time. Moreover, it is a Memorial Day with more than 100 hundred years of history. It is marked annually on June 10th. Of all the anniversaries and observances each year, Time Memorial Day is one of my personal favorites.

The anniversary was created to encourage people to value time and live more efficiently. It was established in 1920 by the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory and the Life Improvement League, who promoted the idea that Japan should adopt time‑keeping habits comparable to Western countries. In my opinion - they have far surpassed them!

The date of the commemoration comes from a passage in the Nihon Shoki, which records that on April 25th, 671 (Gregorian June 10th), Japan installed a new clock and struck the first official time signal using bells and drums. This is considered to be the beginning of formal timekeeping in Japan. 

Since 1999 Japan has also broadcast national standard time via radio waves from the Otakadoya-yama transmission station in Fukushima, further strengthening the country's connection to precise timekeeping. 

In 2020, "Time Memorial Day" celebrated its 100th year and some people suggested then, and there are still discussions today, about making it an official June public holiday. What an absolutely magnificent and fitting public holiday that would be for Japan. I live in hope!