St Francis Xavier brought the first eyeglasses to Japan

October 1st is "Eyeglasses Day" or "Glasses Day". It was established in 1997 by the Japan Glasses Association (formerly the Japan Eyeglasses Association). The date was decided on the arrangement of numbers. October is the 10th month "10" and the day is "01". Put together it becomes "1001". It is said that the 1 at both ends looks like the vine of glasses, and the 0 in the middle is like the lenses! 

I find it very interesting that St Francis Xavier, who led the first Christian mission to Japan, is attributed with bringing eyeglasses to Japan and that he first presented them when he had an audience with Yoshitaka Ouchi, the guardian daimyo of the Suō Province (modern day Yamaguchi prefecture). Moreover, I find it absolutely fascinating that, reportedly, Ouchi let St Francis to proselytize while he was in Yamaguchi prefecture.  

Eyeglasses day is a good day to consider your own eye health and whether you are in need of an eye test. If you want to indulge on this day, perhaps a new pair of stylish glasses might be a nice way to mark the day! If they are not in the budget and you just need glasses for reading, the 100 yen store has a surprisingly good range of eyeglasses available! They also sell fashion glasses (without prescription lens) too.