Picturesque Japan

August 10, 2020 is "Mountain Day" in Japan. It's relatively a new holiday started in 2016 and it's usually August 11. However, it is moved to August 10 this year for the Olympics. August is chosen because the shape of the kanji character "eight" looks like a mountain. We don't have any special traditions related to this day, but this is the day to provide “opportunities to get familiar with mountains and appreciate blessings from mountains.” 

Do you send summer greetings in your country? Though not all Japanese people do this, we have a culture to send summer greeting cards. Until the end of July, it's called " Shochu-mimai " (the meaning is something like "I care you during these hot days") and from August 1, it's called " Zansho-mimai " (the meaning is something like "I care you while the heat is still remaining"). I don't like summer, but these summer cards have been making me very happy. :)