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Friday, October 23 (archive)

Today in Japan

Watercolor of frost-tipped autumn leaves and mountains, an early Meiji telegraph key and poles, neighbors enjoying Tsugaru conversation, ginkgo nuts and savory steamed egg custard

What day is it?

  1. Soko (Frost Falls)霜降（そうこう）

    Today is Soko, which means "frost falls." It's one of the 24 seasonal points of the old calendar, and in 2026 it falls on October 23rd. Mornings get noticeably colder, frost starts to appear in the mountains and the north, and the autumn colors start moving down from the mountains toward the towns. It's about the time many families get out the kotatsu, a low table with a heater underneath.

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  2. 1950年制定Telegraph and Telephone Day電信電話記念日

    On October 23rd, 1869, work began on a public telegraph line between Tokyo and Yokohama. It was made a commemorative day in 1950, and it got its current name, Telegraph and Telephone Day, in 1956. That was only the second year of the Meiji era, so Japan brought in this new technology very quickly.

  3. 1988年制定Tsugaru Dialect Day津軽弁の日

    Tsugaru-ben, the dialect of western Aomori, is famous for being hard to follow, even for other Japanese people. Tsugaru Dialect Day began in 1988 to honor Takagi Kyozo, an eye doctor and poet who wrote poems in the dialect. He died on October 23rd, 1987. Every year, people gather to enjoy poems and stories told in Tsugaru-ben.

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If someone asks you

Q

Do people in Japan all speak the same Japanese?

A

Not exactly. Everyone learns standard Japanese at school and hears it on TV, so we can all understand each other. But at home and with friends, a lot of people speak their local dialect. Some dialects, like Tsugaru-ben in Aomori or the traditional speech of Okinawa, can be really hard for people from other areas to follow.

In season Ginkgo nuts 銀杏（ぎんなん） In autumn, ginkgo trees drop their fruit, which smells terrible, but the nut inside is a seasonal treat. People roast the nuts with salt or put them in chawanmushi, a savory steamed egg custard. They're tasty, but don't eat too many at once. Eating a lot of them can make people sick, and children are especially at risk. Micro-season 52 of 72 霜始降しもはじめてふる First Frost Falls The first frost of the year appears in the mountains and on northern fields. Farmers race to bring in what is left before it hits the crops.

Phrase of the day

It's getting chilly in the mornings.

Sentence of the day

October 23rd is Soko, when the first frost appears in the mountains and autumn starts to give way to winter. It's also a day to remember the start of Japan's first public telegraph line and to enjoy the Tsugaru dialect of Aomori.

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Sources

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