Time Day (Toki no Kinenbi)
Next: June 10, 2027
Japan's day for keeping good time.
The story
Where it comes from
Japan's Time Day, Toki no Kinenbi, was created in 1920 by the Everyday Life Improvement League, during an exhibition about time at the Tokyo Education Museum that urged people to value punctuality. The date comes from the Nihon Shoki, Japan's ancient chronicle: in 671 Emperor Tenji set up a rōkoku, a water clock, on a new platform and for the first time had bells and drums sounded to tell the hour. That day, the 25th of the fourth month, falls on 10 June in today's calendar.
How it's celebrated
Every 10 June, Ōmi Jingū in Ōtsu, the shrine dedicated to Emperor Tenji, holds the Rōkoku-sai, the water clock festival. Members of the clock and watch industry in court dress present new timepieces from makers in Japan and abroad, and court dance is offered. The shrine's clock museum, opened in 1963 as Japan's first, is free that day. Elsewhere, it is a day to set the clocks right and be on time.
Did you know
- The first Time Day in 1920 included leaflet handouts and people setting watches right in the street.
- Remains of Japan's first water clock, built by Tenji in 660 while he was still crown prince, are believed to lie at the Mizuochi site in Asuka, Nara.
- The rōkoku measured time by water dripping through three tiered tanks into a vessel, where it raised a float carrying a marked arrow.
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