Shumbun no Hi is the Japanese national holiday that takes place on either March 20th or March 21st or so every year in Japan. It is most commonly known in English as Vernal Equinox although I’ve also heard it referred to as Spring Day.
Post offices and other such official services will be closed. Schools are closed (except for the perrenial club activities). In fact many schools hold their closing ceremonies for the year on or around this day. Since it falls on a Friday this year, that means most schools held closing ceremonies on March 19th, with the later closing schools doing it on Monday March 23rd. School’s out here until the beginning of April!
Vernal Equinox was designed for people to get out and appreciate nature welcoming the advent of Spring and Spring vacation.
The Vernal Equinox was established in 1948 for the purpose of showing “an appreciation of nature and love of living things”.
Also, Google Japan has gotten into the spirit of the Vernal Equinox by putting a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme on the Google Logo for the Japanese Classic search page… Here it is below:
Enjoy the holiday!