May Storm Day

Today, May 13th, is May Storm Day in Japan. May Storm is actually Japanese English and not derived from an equivalent occasion in the West. Although, we do have similar sayings such as spring storm, we don't have a spring storm day - do we? May Storm Day is unique to Japan that is an annual thing on May 13th.

May is known for being a blustery month in Japan. Seeing these koi nobori flapping in the wind today at Heisei No Mori Park reminded me of that. Storm Day is one of those random "days of" that Japan loves so much, but does little in the way of celebrating or even disseminating information about.

However, May Storm day may not be as arbitrary as say Azalea Day. Some say the date originated from a storm in Hokkaido in 1954 that killed 361 people on May 9th and parting was on May 13th. Although, this has not been corroborated officially anywhere.

The official word on it is that, much like the "88 nights farewell frost" that occurs 88 days after the start of spring, May Storm marks 88 nights past Valentines Day. Instead of fare-welling frost, it farewells a story. Possibly a love story?

Basically, it is symbolic of letting go and said to be a good day for a parting or to start saying goodbye to something or someone in your life you should let go off. So if you have any literal or figurative baggage to let go off, today, May Storm Day, might be the day for it! 

Had you ever heard of May Storm Day before? Is there any information you can add?