<p>Alright! This is one question I have asked before and I will give the perspective for manga artists and such.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Golden Week is a week at the end of April and beginning of May. This week has a series of many national holidays strung together.</p></li>
<li><p>April 29, May 1 (Mayday), 3 (Memorial Day), 5 (Children's Day) are all holidays. In the previous decade it made no sense for the factory workers to start and stop the plant every alternate day and so the week was announced as Golden Week and observed as holiday.</p></li>
<li><p>However the normal offices usually keep the days which are not holidays as working days.</p></li>
<li><p>For manga writers, this is not a real holiday as deadlines do not take into account this Golden Week.</p></li>
<li><p>Also during this period all the leisure activities spike up. The film industry gets huge revenues during this period and makes major releases during this period (I am from India, people do the same for big festivals here too :D). So manga being a top entertainment source, I assume the mangaka have to work hard to keep deadlines in this week.</p></li>
<li><p>So for budding mangakas, this is a crucial time as most new mangas and a whole bunch of releases happen at the same time. </p></li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Some fun facts:</strong></p>

<ul>
<li><p>It seems that this time of the year is very pleasant and along summer. So people use this as their vacation period and travel a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>Even though offices observe working days in between the Golden Week, employees usually use their PTO (aka vacation days) and take the whole week off.</p></li>
<li><p>Golden Week is another holiday observed in China, but it's completely different and started in 2000.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>SOURCE: Baku-man for giving insight into mangaka's life, my brain for storing some of the info, and google :D</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T14:39:48.690Z
I remember reading something along these lines myself a while back, that it was an entire week of "holiday", but that many people only took a couple of days off. That probably comes from the "dedication to the company" mindset that still permeates the Japanese work ethic. Thank you for elaborating!
Paul Rowe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T13:18:24.853Z
2016-12-31T04:13:22.863Z
2016-12-31T04:13:22.863Z
Imprfectluck
<p>This week, I was talking to friends and congratulating them for having Golden Week, but it turns out that despite it being Golden Week, they have to work their asses off even more than usual, just because it is Golden Week. So it made me wonder what kind of holiday it is and why some (eg: Manga writers) can take a break, while others cannot. What is celebrated on Golden Week and by whom?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T08:43:45.013Z
I realize I could just read through the [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_%28Japan%29), but it having an impact on us readers, I was surprised to see, that this question wasn't around yet.
Peter Raeves
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T09:52:40.747Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about Japanese culture and not about anime or manga.
kuwaly
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T10:01:05.047Z
@kuwaly To me personally golden week is manga related because it is the only time I come in contact with it, but if the community agrees I understand.
Peter Raeves
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T10:25:31.667Z
I think it is a fine question as long as you narrow it down to be relevant to anime and manga. For example, you could expand the point on why you think some manga writers can take a break while others can not, or certain characters work harder than usual during the Golden Week.
Gao
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T11:02:01.600Z
@Gao Alright, I'll try to improve the question tonight.
Peter Raeves
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-29T01:46:40.577Z
GW is a week or 2 where a string of bank holidays occur (in some years, it does not comprise a week containing back-to-back days off, so people are not able to go on a trip), but the only 1 of these days which is "celebrated" with any customs is Kodomo no Hi (called "Children's Day," but is only Boy's Day in practice). Most Japanese bank holidays are not for pausing to remember something like America's Memorial Day or Labor Day, and are not celebrated with any traditional customs like Christmas or Thanksgiving; they are simply a designated day off from work/school. [continued in next comment]
seijitsu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-29T01:51:24.637Z
[continued from previous comment] Japanese holidays that are celebrated with traditional customs are **not** usually bank holidays (in the same way that Halloween and St. Patrick's Day are celebrated in the West but you don't get the day off from work and the post office is not closed): Setsubun, St. Valentine's Day, Hina Matsuri, Tanabata, etc. 2 of the only Japanese holidays that bear both traditions **and** are days off from work are New Year's Eve (Oomisoka) and New Year's Day (Oshougatsu).
seijitsu
<culture>
How are mangaka affected by Golden Week?
# How are mangaka affected by Golden Week?
Posted by: username_0 on 2015-04-28
This week, I was talking to friends and congratulating them for having Golden Week, but it turns out that despite it being Golden Week, they have to work their asses off even more than usual, just because it is Golden Week. So it made me wonder what kind of holiday it is and why some (eg: Manga writers) can take a break, while others cannot. What is celebrated on Golden Week and by whom?
**Tags:** culture
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I realize I could just read through the [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_%28Japan%29), but it having an impact on us readers, I was surprised to see, that this question wasn't around yet.  
> **username_1**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about Japanese culture and not about anime or manga.  
> **username_0**: @kuwaly To me personally golden week is manga related because it is the only time I come in contact with it, but if the community agrees I understand.  
> **username_2**: I think it is a fine question as long as you narrow it down to be relevant to anime and manga. For example, you could expand the point on why you think some manga writers can take a break while others can not, or certain characters work harder than usual during the Golden Week.  
> **username_0**: @Gao Alright, I'll try to improve the question tonight.  
> **username_3**: GW is a week or 2 where a string of bank holidays occur (in some years, it does not comprise a week containing back-to-back days off, so people are not able to go on a trip), but the only 1 of these days which is "celebrated" with any customs is Kodomo no Hi (called "Children's Day," but is only Boy's Day in practice). Most Japanese bank holidays are not for pausing to remember something like America's Memorial Day or Labor Day, and are not celebrated with any traditional customs like Christmas or Thanksgiving; they are simply a designated day off from work/school. [continued in next comment]  
> **username_3**: [continued from previous comment] Japanese holidays that are celebrated with traditional customs are **not** usually bank holidays (in the same way that Halloween and St. Patrick's Day are celebrated in the West but you don't get the day off from work and the post office is not closed): Setsubun, St. Valentine's Day, Hina Matsuri, Tanabata, etc. 2 of the only Japanese holidays that bear both traditions **and** are days off from work are New Year's Eve (Oomisoka) and New Year's Day (Oshougatsu).  
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_4 on 2015-04-28. Score: 4
Alright! This is one question I have asked before and I will give the perspective for manga artists and such.

* Golden Week is a week at the end of April and beginning of May. This week has a series of many national holidays strung together.
* April 29, May 1 (Mayday), 3 (Memorial Day), 5 (Children's Day) are all holidays. In the previous decade it made no sense for the factory workers to start and stop the plant every alternate day and so the week was announced as Golden Week and observed as holiday.
* However the normal offices usually keep the days which are not holidays as working days.
* For manga writers, this is not a real holiday as deadlines do not take into account this Golden Week.
* Also during this period all the leisure activities spike up. The film industry gets huge revenues during this period and makes major releases during this period (I am from India, people do the same for big festivals here too :D). So manga being a top entertainment source, I assume the mangaka have to work hard to keep deadlines in this week.
* So for budding mangakas, this is a crucial time as most new mangas and a whole bunch of releases happen at the same time.

**Some fun facts:**

* It seems that this time of the year is very pleasant and along summer. So people use this as their vacation period and travel a lot.
* Even though offices observe working days in between the Golden Week, employees usually use their PTO (aka vacation days) and take the whole week off.
* Golden Week is another holiday observed in China, but it's completely different and started in 2000.

SOURCE: Baku-man for giving insight into mangaka's life, my brain for storing some of the info, and google :D
> **Comments:**
> **username_5** (2015-04-28): I remember reading something along these lines myself a while back, that it was an entire week of "holiday", but that many people only took a couple of days off. That probably comes from the "dedication to the company" mindset that still permeates the Japanese work ethic. Thank you for elaborating!  
---
