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Happy Leap Day everyone! Today is February 29th, 2016, one of the special leap days we all have only every 4 years. Although we all know that leap year is every 4 years, I wanted to\u00a0cover\u00a0some of the facts related to Leap Year below, especially\u00a0related to how it is handled in Japan.<\/p>\n
I am sure there are many customs that go with the Leap Day throughout the world, if you have anything specific, share with me in the comment section. I have heard the ones like, “Women propose to men” on leap day for a change, \u00a0and of course, there are much talk about the leap day babies. Do they only get their birthday every 4 years? \u00a0My kids have already asked this question a few days ago.<\/p>\n
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Leap Year – \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Leap year is called “Uru-doshi” in Japanese. It is spelled out as, “\u3046\u308b\u3046\u5e74”. “\u5e74” is pronounced as “doshi” rather than “toshi”, and it means “year” in English. \u00a0Interesting, when leap year is expressed in Kanji, it is called “Jun nen”, and character used is “\u958f\u5e74”. \u00a0However, I have to tell you\u00a0\u958f\u5e74 is not much used, where people almost always use “Uru-doshi” in Japanese. Perhaps in writing, you\u00a0could be describing using\u00a0\u958f\u5e74.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Counting ages –\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In Japan, we have a specific law that talks about calculating your age. The law basically tells you, you are to get one year older on the day before your actually “birthday”. \u00a0This is spelled out under the law called “\u5e74\u9f62\u8a08\u7b97\u30cb\u95a2\u30b9\u30eb\u6cd5\u5f8b\u7b2c1\u9805” \u00a0(Nen rei keisan ni kansuru ho-ritsu dai ikko). \u00a0Specifically speaking, you are one year older right when the previous day ends, so at 11:59 PM(previous day).\u00a0\u00a0So even if you were born on February 29th on leap year, no problem. You are one year older already on February 28th, each year. \u00a0I guess this is fair for everyone else who were born non-leap day, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy Leap Day everyone! Today is February 29th, 2016, one of the special leap days we all have only every 4 years. Although we all know that leap year is every 4 years, I wanted to\u00a0cover\u00a0some of the facts related to Leap Year below, especially\u00a0related to how it is handled in Japan. I am…<\/p>\n