Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Working While the World Rests
（世間が休みのときに出勤）
In Japan, we are in the middle of Silver Week, a five-day holiday running from Saturday, September 19, to Wednesday, September 23. It includes a weekend and three public holidays. Many people spend this time travelling or relaxing.
In the automotive industry, however, we usually work on national holidays, so they don’t make much difference to me. I rarely think about them. But when I take the train and don’t see the usual faces, I realize it’s a public holiday.
Speaking of the train, my daily train ride also gives me a sense of the changing seasons. In spring, I see new faces. In summer, there are fewer students on the train because they are on summer vacation. The clothes people wear also reflect the changing seasons.
Sometimes, the passengers remind me of local events, too. When the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix takes place at Suzuka Circuit, I see people from around the world on the train.
It’s only about a twenty-minute ride each way, but the time is precious to me. On the way to work, I usually journal on my iPad. On the way home, I read or think about things I have noticed or learned during the day. I try to make good use of this time. At the same time, there is always something different to notice around me. The passengers change. Their clothes change. The atmosphere changes. Even on this familiar journey, I can feel the passage of time.
Returning to Silver Week, writing about it has made me wonder how Japan compares with other countries in terms of the number of public holidays.
After a quick search, I found a website comparing public holidays in Japan and other countries using JETRO’s holiday calendars for 2026 and information from Japan’s Cabinet Office.
According to Japan’s Cabinet Office, Japan has 16 designated national holidays a year. JETRO’s holiday calendars for 2026 list 13 holidays for Italy, including Easter Sunday, and 11 for France. The United States has 11 federal holidays, while JETRO’s calendar for Canada also lists 11 holidays. Germany has nine holidays observed nationwide, and England and Wales have eight bank holidays. These figures exclude additional regional holidays and do not count substitute dates as separate holidays.
I was surprised to learn that Japan has more national holidays than the other G7 countries. Of course, having more public holidays does not necessarily mean that people have more time off overall. So I wondered: how much paid annual leave do workers in these countries get, and how much of it do they actually take?
But paid leave alone does not tell the whole story either. To get a fuller picture, we need to consider the total number of days people have off each year, including public holidays, paid leave taken, and weekends.
On the same website, I came across a rough comparison based on JETRO’s holiday calendars and Expedia’s survey of paid leave actually taken in 2023. The comparison gives us 144 days for France, 140 for Germany, 137 for England and Wales, and 126 for the United States, assuming 104 weekend days a year. Japan falls between these European examples and the United States, with 132 days.
It looks like Japan has more national holidays than these countries, but that does not necessarily mean Japanese workers enjoy more time off overall.
But what does 132 days off mean in practical terms? Under this rough calculation, it leaves 233 working days a year. In other words, we work on about two-thirds of the days in a year and have the remaining third off.
Is 132 days off enough to enjoy life outside of work?
Working during Silver Week while many others are resting makes me think about how much of my life I want to devote to work and how much I want to reserve for life outside of work. Should the balance shift toward more time off? Perhaps we could spend roughly half the year working and the other half enjoying time off—around 180 days each.
Perhaps that’s a topic for another day. I’ll keep thinking about it.