No public holiday in Japan has been tossed about by the winds of political fortune quite like Showa Day.

For middle-aged and older generations, April 29 remains etched in memory as the Emperor’s Birthday, as it was originally established to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989), posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

After Emperor Showa’s death in January 1989, the date was renamed Greenery Day, a name that seemed to have taken root before being switched once more in 2007.

The change was the result of legislator-led initiatives by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, then the LDP’s junior coalition partner, with LDP lawmaker Sanae Takaichi, now prime minister, serving as one of its leading standard-bearers.

The law........

© The Asahi Shimbun