Happy Marine Day! Today is 海の日 (umi no hi) or Marine Day here in Japan. It is a national holiday which originally commemorated the historic 1876 voyage of Emperor Meiji to Aomori on a specially constructed steam-ship.

Today it is considered a day of gratitude for the blessings of the ocean and prosperity it brings, in this country which has historically depended so heavily on the sea. Many people take the day to go to the ocean and spend time with their families, as evidenced in today’s special Google-doodle for Japan!

Though we live in one of the very few landlocked prefectures in Japan, we still enjoyed the lovely long weekend! Our adventures didn’t include the ocean, sadly, but we still had tons of fun. What did you get up to this weekend, internets?