Spring until further notice

24th February 2010

Today was Carry Your Coat Day.

I wasn't aware of it until I went outside and saw people with coats slung over their arms or dangling from their hands.

Some may think that this is what happens when you've dressed for winter and the weather suddenly decides to do spring.

Not true. Carry Your Coat Day actually has its roots in an old custom. In the past, to welcome the arrival of spring - warm weather as opposed to the spring solstice when it was probably still freezing - people would take off a layer of clothing. A sign of their desire to get closer to the new season, as it were.

But spring wouldn't realise what they'd done if they simply took off their coats, jackets, haori or michiyuki and left them at home. Hence the custom of walking around while carrying your outerwear.

If you find yourself in Japan on Carry Your Coat Day, why not engage in an ancient folkway? Take off your coat - only your coat, mind, let's not get law enforcement officers involved - and carry it.

With little effort, you too can be part of Japanese culture.