In Japanese, "midori" means green and "hi" means day. So as you might expect, Midori no Hi celebrates everything green! Tokyo is very crowded during this time, so if you are planning on being in the city during this time, make sure you plan ahead to be prepared for crowded places and booked hotels! There are many local events, such as planting trees, taking place on this day to honor nature. Parks and gardens are wonderful places to visit during this time! In addition to celebrating nature, Greenery Day also functions to address environmental issues. There are initiatives to clean up local areas including parks and beach areas, so don't be surprised to see large groups of people sweeping, polishing, and picking up trash!
The idea for Greenery Day came about after Emperor Hirohito's death in January 1989. The emperor was a big lover of nature and all things green. Awareness of environmental issues was important to him and he did many things to help improve the environment, such as establishing the Imperial Biological Research Institute. His birthday was named Midori no Hi in order to honor his interests and advancements in these areas. In 2007, the government decided to make April 29th a national holiday to pay respects to Hirohito and move Greenery Day to May 4th.
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Honor and celebrate nature, the emperor, and all things green with us on May 4th for Greenery Day during Japan's Golden Week!
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