Holidays and Events

Holidays are great scene fodder, equally adept at providing flavor for social scenes, reason to throw parties, or fun seasonal items to turn into rampaging monsters. This page lists various events, holidays, and festivals that your character will enjoy (or endure) while living in Tokyo, along with short descriptions.

The in-game calendar (accessed by the command +date) lists upcoming events, as well as informing you of the current in-character date. Due to the 2:1 timescale of Battle Fantasia, where two real-life days pass for every in-character day, it can be otherwise difficult to know what time of year it is for your character.

An asterisk (*) indicates school is cancelled for this event. The event descriptions are currently incomplete, but all currently pending events are filled out, and the rest will soon follow.

Periodic

Club Activities Suspended for Finals - The week before final exams, afterschool clubs stop meeting so that students can focus on studying, and their regular activities cease. If you really want to RP with your club during this period, you'll have to secretly break the rules.

Final Exams - Finals at the Sister Schools are intensive and much-feared. For an entire week near the end of each semester, normal class ceases entirely, and students take final exams for the entire day. Students are released two hours early, and there are no club activities, but this is little consolation for all but the most apathetic of students, who tend to expend their extra time studying. Most classes have a final exam, though some less scholarly subjects like PE or home ec may instead have an alternate final project assigned before or after. Final exams are separate from entrance exams.

Final Exam results posted - The period between the end of finals and the start of break is the easiest academically; there are no more tests, and the teachers are often more indulgent. It can be a purgatory, however, for those who anxiously await their final exam scores, which are posted publically on a bulletin board in the hallway. It quickly becomes common knowledge who scored the highest and lowest, and the former commonly receive considerable admiration.

Midterms - Midterm examinations aren't as grueling as finals. Only the core subjects are tested, and there's half as much material covered. Like finals, however, they take the entire day, and club activities aren't held during this week.

School Break* -

School Semester -

Sumo Championship (late January, late March, mid September) -

Uniform Change (June 1, October 1) -

January

New Year's Day* (January 1) -

Fireman's Parade (January 6) -

Winter Semester (early January - late March) -

Coming of Age Day* (mid January) -

February

Lunar New Year (late January/early February) -

Setsubun (beginning of spring) (February 3) -

Sapporo Snow Festival (February 5-11) -

Foundation Day* (February 11) -

Valentine's Day (February 14) -

March

Doll Festival (March 3) -

White Day (March 14) -

Vernal Equinox* (mid March) -

Tokyo International Anime Fair (late March) -

Spring Break* (late March - early April) -

Cherry Blossom Festival (late March - mid April) -

April

April Fools' Day (April 1) -

Spring Semester (early April - late July) -

Flower Festival (Buddha's birthday) (April 8) -

Horseback Archery Festival (mid-April) -

Showa Day* (April 29) -

Darkness Festival (Kurayami) (April 30-May 6) -

May

Golden Week* -

Constitution Day* (May 3 ) -

Green Day* (May 4) -

Children's Day* (May 5) -

Kanda Festival (mid May) -

Firefly (Hotaru) Festival (late May) -

Sanja Festival (late May) -

June

Change to summer uniform (June 1) -

Rainy season (early June - late July) -

Sanno Festival (June 8) -

Ajinomoto Flea Market Fair (June 15) -

July

Tanabata (July 7) -

Obon (July 15) -

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival (late July) -

Summer Vacation* (late July - late August) -

Ocean Day* (late July) -

August

Summer Sonic Concert (mid August) -

Fukugawa Festival (late August) -

Fire Festival (August 26-27) -

Asakusa Samba Festival (August 31) -

September

Fall Semester (early September - late December) -

Tamayura Festival (early September) -

Leaves begin to turn (mid September) - Starting from Hokkaido to the north and working its way south, a lush autumnal patchwork of colors lights up the trees of Japan, reaching Tokyo around mid-September. The scenic beauty they provide is often considered autumn's answer to spring's cherry blossom festival, and many take this opportunity to go "leaf-viewing" by walking, hiking, driving, or camping.

Tokyo Game Show (late September) -

Respect-for-the-Aged Day* (late September) -

Autumnal Equinox* (late September) -

October

Change to winter uniform (October 1) -

Japanese Grand Prix (mid October) -

Health and Sports Day (mid October) -

Tokyo International Film Festival (October 17-25) -

Halloween (Oct 31) -

November

Culture Day* (November 3) - A government holiday set aside to celebrate the arts, academics, and Japanese culture. Art exhibitions, museum events, and culture-related celebrations such as parades and performances are all common observances. The majority of Japanese high schools choose to hold their Cultural Festival on this day, but please note that the Sister Schools of Battle Fantasia do not.

Japan Series baseball championship (early November) - The equivalent of the American (and sadly misnamed) World Series, the Japan Series is a seven-game championship series that leads to this day, the biggest game of the year. By far the most popular sport in Japan, baseball draws immense crowds and viewership, and so the final game of the Japan Series eats up much of the nation's media attention and watercooler talk when it occurs.

Chrysanthemum Festival celebration (November 14) - The second most popular of the various flower festivals (behind the cherry blossom), the chrysanthemum festival celebrates a flower with considerable cultural significance to Japan. The chrysanthemum (or 'mum') is the symbol of the Emperor, and many old katana are marked with this emblem. The festival, however, is primarily about celebrating the simple beauty of this flower. Like the Cherry Blossom Festival, it lasts for a month and has many events associated with it. On this particular day, a special celebration occurs at the Yushima Tenman shrine in Shitamachi, with traditional performances and vendors.

Labour Thanksgiving Day* (November 23) - The Japanese equivalent of America's Labor Day, with more emphasis on the human rights expanded by the post-WWII constitution, and less on unionized labor. Prior to WWII, this holiday was a harvest festival. For children, it is often used to give thanks for the labor of one's parents, and young children in particular can observe it by making drawings to give to their parents or the local police as thanks.

Tokyo Motor Show (late November) - Japan's auto industry is a major part of its success as a world power, and the Tokyo Motor Show makes news around the world. Cutting-edge concept cars and motorcycles are displayed by the various competing manufacturers, who struggle to show off as much engineering muscle as possible over a single weekend. The rich and famous love to be seen at the Motor Show, which spawns various official and unofficial parties in the evenings, most quite formal and expensive.

Japan Cup horse race (late November) - The biggest horse race event of the year. Horse-racing maintains somewhat more popularity in Japan than in America, though it is not a major cultural force. Betting on this race is popular, and the week before and after will involve a fair amount of small talk about it.

Christmas lights go up (late November) - Though Japan celebrates Christmas rather differently (and less intensely), its cities have a disproportionate tendency to elaborate Christmas light displays, particularly in commercial areas. During December, you can expect many buildings and trees to display lovely wintery lights. Certain parks and businesses will even convert their premises to actual light shows, with ambitious displays designed to attract viewers (and customers).

December

Battledore Festival (December 17-19) - A battledore is a wooden paddle used to play a traditional New Years' game called Hanetsuki. During the battledore festival, these paddles can be purchased at a popular fair in Asakusa. Most are intended to be decorative, particularly since the actual game isn't as popular as it was, and have ritual significance as well, as they are intended to help girls, particularly little ones, grow up healthy and strong. Most are decorated colorfully with anything from classical art to modern-day celebrities. Those who actually want to play the game often do so casually, indoors, in traditional dress, either attempting to keep a shuttlecock aloft themselves or batting it over to an opponent as in badminton. Victory is said to offer protection against mosquitoes during the following year, and who wouldn't want that? Failure incurs a punitive drawing on one's face with ink.

Japan Figure Skating Championships (December 20) - That most romantic of sports, figure skating, holds its final championship to determine the best in Japan. Men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing each receive their champion for the year. The Sister Schools' skating clubs will occasionally host events of their own to commemorate this, and watching the championship in person or on TV can provide welcome relief from final exams.

Emperor's Birthday* (December 23)-

Christmas Eve (December 24) -

Christmas (December 25) -

Winter Vacation* (late December - early January) -

New Year's Eve (December 31) -