The end of the lunar calendar

On this day in 1872 the lunar calendar was used for the last time and January 1st marks the "Solar Calendar Enforcement Day". On December 3rd 1872, the government declared that the following year the solar calendar would be adopted.

On January 1st, 1873, Japan abolished the lunar calendar and officially switched to the solar calendar. This shift aligned Japan with international timekeeping and marked a move toward modernization. I often think that more than most other countries, the shift must have been a big upheaval for many in Japan. So much of Japanese culture was rooted in the lunar calendar.

But even though Japan uses the solar calendar now, they still remember and mark many of the lunar calendar occasions. Some have been given a fixed date to make commemoration easier while others are still marked by the movements of the moon.