海の日 HAPPY OCEAN DAY

Today (Monday in Japan) is Ocean Day or Day Of Ocean celebrating Meiji Emperor steamboat voyage returned from North East region of the country 東北地方 in 1876 (明治9年).

In fact, the whole month of July is the Month of Ocean (海の月間), promoting the awareness and learning of the sea (life , ecosystem , nature, etc) .  海フェスタ Sea Festival acitvities are being held across the country.




I think Japan will have a new annual holiday named Mountain Day (山の日) starting from August of 2016.