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Saturday, October 3 (archive)

Today in Japan

Watercolor of a mountain hiker, sweet red-bean buns and rice fields before harvest

What day is it?

  1. 1992年制定Mountain Climbing Day登山の日

    The Japanese Alpine Club named October 3rd Mountain Climbing Day in 1992. It's a pun: 10 can be read "to" and 3 can be read "zan," which makes tozan, the word for climbing a mountain. The club itself was founded in October 1905, so the date fits twice. Early autumn is a popular time to hike, with cooler air and the first colored leaves up high.

  2. 1988年放送開始Anpanman Dayアンパンマンの日

    On October 3rd, 1988, the TV anime "Soreike! Anpanman" started. Anpanman is a hero whose head is an anpan, a bun filled with sweet red bean paste, and he lets hungry people eat part of it. The show was first planned for about six months, but children loved it so much that it kept going for decades. The day was registered as Anpanman Day in 2016.

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  3. "Fields are drained," one of the 72 seasons七十二候「水始涸（みずはじめてかるる）」

    The old calendar splits the year into 72 short seasons of about five days each. The one that starts around today is called mizu hajimete karuru, which is usually explained as farmers draining their rice paddies. Once the water is gone, the ground dries out and the rice is ready to be cut.

If someone asks you

Q

Why does Anpanman give away his own face?

A

That's the whole point of the character. His creator, Takashi Yanase, believed that a real hero is someone who feeds a hungry person, even if it costs him something. So Anpanman doesn't just fight. He shares his own bread, and then Uncle Jam bakes him a new head. Kids in Japan grow up with that idea of a hero.

In season Chestnuts 栗 Chestnuts, or kuri, are in season in early autumn. A favorite home dish is kuri gohan, rice cooked with peeled chestnuts and a little salt. Peeling them is hard work, so many people think of it as a once-a-year treat. Chestnuts also go into sweets, like chestnut yokan and kuri kinton. Micro-season 48 of 72 水始涸みずはじめてかるる Fields Are Drained Water is drained from the rice paddies so the ground dries enough for the harvest. It is not nature drying up but farmers preparing.

Phrase of the day

Anpan is a soft bun filled with sweet red bean paste.

Sentence of the day

October 3rd is Mountain Climbing Day in Japan, from a pun on the numbers 10 and 3, and it's also the day Anpanman first appeared on TV in 1988. On the old seasonal calendar, it's when farmers drain their rice paddies to get ready for the harvest.

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Sources

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