Nearly a third of people have never heard of Mountain Day, according to a new survey, as the newest official public holiday is set to be celebrated for the first time on Thursday.
In 2014, the Diet established Aug. 11 as Mountain Day to be observed from this year, raising the annual tally of official public holidays in Japan to 16. The legislation to create the new holiday was submitted by a group of lawmakers and enacted with support from both the ruling camp and the opposition.
For years, the Japanese Alpine Club and other mountain-related groups had lobbied for the bill, saying Japan needs to celebrate its peaks.