A day between two holidays becomes a holiday in Japan

In Japan, a day between two national holidays^*1 can become a holiday too. The Cabinet Office, an office of the Japanese government, explains this on its website.

Japan has a law^*2 about national holidays. One part of this law says: "A day between two national holidays is a holiday, if that day is not a national holiday itself." So when the day before and the day after are both national holidays, the day in the middle becomes a day off.

The Cabinet Office gives an example. In September 2015, September 21 was Respect for the Aged Day, and September 23 was Autumnal Equinox Day. Both of these are national holidays. September 22 was between them, so it became a holiday under this law.

A holiday like this does not come every year. It appears only once every few years, and the years are not regular.

1. *1 national holidays: days when the whole country has a day off, decided by law
2. *2 law: a rule made by a country's government that everyone must follow