文化の日(11月3日) - Culture Day (November 3rd)

Culture Day, which falls on November 3rd, is a national holiday when people are encouraged to love freedom and peace and to promote culture. The love of freedom and peace are declared in the Constitution of Japan, which was established after World War ?. Historically, November 3rd was celebrated as the birthday of the Meiji Emperor and this day of feast was called Meiji-setsu. After World War ?, the Constitution of Japan was promulgated on November 3rd, 1946. In 1948, this date was designated as Culture Day in commemoration of this event.

「文化の日」は、日本国憲法にうたわれている自由と平和を愛し、文化を進めることを趣旨とする国民の祝日です。11月3日がこの日に当たります。歴史的には、この日は明治天皇の誕生日に当たり、「明治節」として祝われていました。第二次世界大戦後、1946年11月3日に日本国憲法が公布されたことを記念して、1948年に「文化の日」として制定されました。

Prior to Culture Day, the government selects people who have contributed to the development of culture. These people are regarded as people of cultural merit and called bunka-korosha in Japanese. The people of cultural merit are selected from among many people who are engaged in a wide range of fields in science and the arts including literature and music. Then, their names are announced by the media on Culture Day. The government also chooses several people from among them who have made the greatest contributions to the development of culture and awards them the Order of Cultural Merit, which is called bunka-kunsho in Japanese. A ceremony is held every year at the Imperial Palace on Culture Day to celebrate the winners of the Order of Cultural Merit, and the Emperor gives medals to the winners at the ceremony.

文化の日に先立ち、政府は科学・芸術の幅広い分野から文化の発展に貢献した人を選び、文化功労者を決定します。文化功労者の名前は、文化の日に新聞などで発表されます。その中でも特に功績のあった人には文化勲章が贈られます。文化勲章の受賞者を祝う式典が、毎年文化の日に皇居で行われ、天皇から受賞者に勲章が手渡されます。

Many cultural events are held throughout Japan during the period around Culture Day. Art, film, drama, broadcasting, and music festivals take place at this time. Many schools also have culture festivals where students use cultural activities to display what they have done.

文化の日の前後には、日本の各地で文化的な催し物が行われます。美術・映画・演劇・放送・音楽などの分野で芸術祭が行われたり、学校の文化祭が盛んに行われます。学校の文化祭は、生徒が文化活動の成果を発表する場となっています。