Today in Japan

The Japan Frozen Food Association picked this date in 1986. October comes from a pun: the "to" in reito, or freezing, can be read as ten. The 18 comes from the standard storage temperature for frozen food, minus 18 degrees Celsius or colder. In 2025, Japan ate a record 24.6 kilograms of frozen food per person.

In 1870, the new Meiji government ordered local governments to report how much their areas produced, from farm and sea products to manufactured goods. The results, called Fuken Bussanhyo, are seen as Japan's first modern production statistics. The order was issued on the 24th day of the 9th month of the old calendar, which is October 18th today. The government made it Statistics Day in 1973.

On October 18th, 1967, the British model Twiggy, then 18, landed at Haneda Airport. A Japanese synthetic fiber maker had invited her, and she stayed for about three weeks. After her visit, the miniskirt quickly spread among young women in Japan, which is why the date is sometimes called Miniskirt Day.

Today begins the 51st of the 72 micro-seasons in the old calendar. As nights get colder, crickets come close to houses and sing near the door. The old name uses the word kirigirisu, but it is usually explained as meaning the cricket, koorogi. In Japan, people have long listened to insect sounds in fall as a kind of music.