KanjiSchool KanjiSchool
🌐EN
Sign up free
👵 CULTURE · Japanese culture · 2026-09-07

Keiro no Hi: Japan's Respect for the Aged Day, and a country with almost 100,000 centenarians

Same news, rewritten for 6 Japanese school grades — pick your level below. Furigana + translation included.
163 chars · ~3 min · 26 kanji
👵 CULTURE 日 ひ
Same sentence · 6 levels

Drag the slider. No other reader does this — and you should see it working, not read about it.

📚 Choose your levelSame news at every level. Grade 1 = easiest, Grade 6 = hardest.

九月くがつの 第三月曜日だいさんげつようびは「けいろうの日ひ」で、国くにの 休日きゅうじつです。

お年としよりを 大切たいせつにし、長生ながいきを いわう 日ひです。

日本にほんには 百ひゃくさいを こえた 人ひとが 十万人じゅうまんにん 近ちかく います。

昔むかしは とても 少すくなかったのに、五十五年ごじゅうごねん つづけて ふえています。

家族かぞくは 花はなや 手紙てがみ、電話でんわで 気持きもちを 送おくります。

この 日ひの 始はじまりは、ひょうご県けんの 小ちいさな 村むらでした。

Tap any kanji for its meaning

0 kanji you have met today Kept only in this browser — it disappears when you close the tab. Keep my progress
Translation

The third Monday of September is "Respect for the Aged Day", a national holiday.

It is a day to cherish the elderly and celebrate their long lives.

In Japan there are nearly 100,000 people who have passed the age of one hundred.

Long ago there were very few, yet the number has kept rising for 55 years in a row.

Families send their feelings through flowers, letters and phone calls.

This day began in a small village in Hyogo Prefecture.

When is Respect for the Aged Day in Japan and is it a public holiday?

On the third Monday of September, Japan closes schools and offices for Keiro no Hi, Respect for the Aged Day. In 2026 it falls on September 21. The holiday honours older people for the years they have given to society and celebrates long life. Families visit or phone grandparents, children hand over flowers and handmade cards, and towns hold small ceremonies for their oldest residents.

The day began in 1947 in Nomadani, a small village in Hyogo Prefecture, which held a "Day for the Elderly" on September 15. The idea spread across the country, became a national holiday in 1966, and moved to the third Monday of September in 2003 so that people could enjoy a three-day weekend.

Each year, just before the holiday, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare publishes how many people in Japan are 100 or older. As of September 1, 2025 the number was 99,763 — the 55th year in a row that it has risen. Women make up 88 percent of them. When the count began in 1963 there were only 153 centenarians, so the figure has grown roughly 650 times. People aged 65 or over now number about 36 million, around 29 percent of the population, the highest share in the world. Everyone who turns 100 receives a silver sake cup and a letter of congratulation from the government.

This article comes in six versions, one for each school grade from 1 to 6, each with furigana and full Vietnamese and English translations.

How many people in Japan are 100 years old or older?

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 99,763 people were aged 100 or over as of September 1, 2025, the 55th consecutive yearly increase. About 88 percent are women. In 1963, when counting began, there were only 153. Each new centenarian receives a silver sake cup and a letter of congratulation from the government.

Not sure which level you are?

Pick the hardest line you can still read. 20 seconds, no account needed.

Why six school grades, and not N5–N1?

Because that is how Japanese children learn to read. Japan's Ministry of Education fixes exactly which character belongs to which grade — so "grade 3" is a boundary you can verify, not a feeling. Every article here is machine-checked: if a single character sits above its grade, it is not published.

The result: you never hit a character you have not learned. That is the whole reason this product exists.

This news comes in 6 levels 📚
Create a free account so KanjiSchool remembers your level and tracks every kanji you have learned.
Start free — no credit card
Sign in with Google in 5 seconds
📘 Share on Facebook 𝕏 Share on X
Create free accountfree · Google 5s Keep my progress