Keirō no Hi, Respect for the Aged Day, is a national holiday. Japan’s National Holidays Act gives its purpose in one line: Tanen ni watari shakai ni tsukushite kita rōjin o keiai shi, chōju o iwau. To respect and love the elderly, who have served society for many years, and to celebrate long life.
The holiday was added to the act by an amendment of June 25, 1966, which set it on September 15.
Under the Civil Code of 1898, the position of head of the house, the koshu, and the property of the house passed by katoku sōzoku, succession to the house. A Japanese dictionary notes that the head of the house was normally succeeded by his eldest son.
A revision of the Civil Code in 1947 abolished the system.
Article 2 of the Imperial House Law fixes the order in which the throne passes. It begins with kōchōshi, the emperor’s eldest son, and kōchōson, the eldest son’s eldest son. Then come the other descendants of the eldest son, and only after them the second son and his descendants.
The third paragraph adds a rule for these cases: Chōkei o saki ni shi, dōtōnai de wa, chō o saki ni suru. The senior line comes first, and within the same degree, the elder comes first.
Hayaumare, born early, describes a person born between January 1 and April 1.
The reason lies in how Japanese law counts age. Legally, a person becomes a year older on the day before the birthday. A child born on April 1 therefore turns six on March 31 and starts school the next day. A child born one day later starts school a year later, in the class below.
Gorin, the five relationships, are the five moral bonds of Confucian teaching. The Daijisen dictionary traces the list to the Chinese philosopher Mencius: fushi no shin, kunshin no gi, fūfu no betsu, chōyō no jo, hōyū no shin. Affection between father and son, duty between lord and retainer, distinction between husband and wife, order between elder and younger, and trust between friends.
Dōki (同期): of the same period. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as entering a school, graduating or joining a company in the same year. The Japanese Wiktionary lists the kinds of entry the word covers: school, company, bank, office, government agency, ministry and the armed forces.
When a new Japanese cabinet is formed or reshuffled, the media use the phrase nyūkaku tekireiki, the right age for entering the cabinet.
The encyclopedia Imidas gives that age in election wins. It says that in LDP cabinets, first-time ministers were often members of the House of Representatives with five or six wins, or members of the House of Councillors with three. It notes that the Koizumi cabinet broke with this custom.
In Japan’s central ministries, the year a career official entered the ministry still matters. Normally, only one member of each entry year becomes administrative vice-minister, the top post in the ministry. The magazine Gendai Business explains that the other members of that year leave the ministry before this happens.
Japan’s official wage survey for 2025 shows pay rising with age. For men, monthly wages peak at ages 55 to 59, at 445,600 yen. That is 181.4 percent of the wage at ages 20 to 24.
By length of service, wages for all workers are highest among those with 30 years or more at the same employer, at 444,200 yen.
Senpai (先輩): a person who entered the same school or workplace earlier. Also a person above oneself in age, position or experience.
Kōhai (後輩): the opposite of senpai.
Tameguchi (ため口): a younger person speaking to an older person as an equal.