Culture Corner
Marine Day (Japan)
23 July 2020 海の日, Umi no Hi (Marine Day) honours the blessings of the oceans and economic prosperity of maritime Japan and it is normally celebrated on the third Monday in July. The date roughly
Hari Raya Haji
Hari Raya Haji, meaning ‘great day of the haj’ in Malay, is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year and considered the holier of the two. It honors the willingness of Ibr
Mountain Day – Japan
10 August 2020 Mountain Day (山の日) is the newest of Japan’s public holidays, the first instance being in 2016. The legislation states that Mountain Day is intended is to provide “opportunitie
Awal Muharram (Islamic lunar new year)
20 August 2020 Awal Muharram, the beginning of the new Hijrah year, is a historic occasion for Muslims around the world. While traditions for Awal Muharram will vary from country to country, it is a p
National Heroes Day in the Philippines
31 August 2020 In the Philippines, the National Heroes Committee was established in 1993 under President Fidel Ramos, and the last Monday in August is designated as National Heroes’ Day, a public ho
Galungan Day
Galungan Day in 2020 falls on 16 September and is a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of dharma over adharma. It marks the time when the ancestral spirits visit the Earth and is related to Diwa
Gandhi Jayanti
2 October 2020 Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday in India. Jayanti means jubilee, and this holiday falls on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday in 1869, to celebrate his contribution to
Hangul Day
Every 9 October is Hangul Day, a national holiday in South Korea to celebrate the invention of Hangul and its adoption as the official alphabet of the Korean language by Korean monarch Sejong the Grea
Chung Yeung
25 October 2020 The festival has many names: Autumn Remembrance, Festival of High Places, and Double-Ninth. Just like the Ching Ming Festival, which happens every spring, it is a special day for famil
Melbourne Cup Day and Culture Day in Japan
If you work in Australia outside the State of Victoria, you are probably taking a ‘sickie’ today. The Melbourne Cup horse race, always held on the first Tuesday of November, is popularly dubbed �