Respect for the Aged Day 2019, Google Doodle Celebrating Today

Today’s Doodle celebrates Japan’s Respect for the Aged Day, also known as Keiro no Hi. Starting in a small village in Hyōgo Prefecture, it was conceived as a time to be kind to seniors and ask for their wisdom and advice about ways to improve life in the village. By 1966, it had become a national holiday to pay respect to elders on the third week of September and is now celebrated all across Japan. Respect for the Aged Day 2019, Google Doodle Celebrating Today.

• 16 September 2019
• Respect for the Aged Day 2019

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Starting in 2003, the holiday was moved to the third Monday in September. The resulting long weekend allows working people time to visit their parents and grandparents. Those who cannot return home in person often call or write. Some volunteers deliver food to homebound elders, and other communities organize special shows known as keirokai, where young people entertain an aged audience.

Japanese people tend to be very long-lived, with elderly residents making up over 26 percent of the total population. Many Japanese people wear red on their 60th birthday, because according to tradition, age 60 marks a new beginning to be a child once again