It’s national holiday in Japan! Actually, there are three national holidays in a row this week, which means the Japanese call this the Silver Week in imitation of the Golden Week, a string of three national holidays in early May.
This Silver Week starts today with Keiro-no-hi, the Respect for the Aged Day, and there is Shubun-no-hi to celebrate the autumn equinox on Wednesday. Apparently the Japanese government is trying to get their citizens to like them better, so they inserted another national holiday without great name in between, tomorrow.
I have written about Keiro-no-hi extensively last year, so I will not repeat myself, but rather present more Japanese art! This time, it’s two masks used in the Noh theatre, now in the possession of the Museum Rietberg in Zürich. The old woman on the left dates back to the 18th/19th century, and the old man on the right even to the 16th/17th century. Both photos are courtesy of Andreas Praefcke, taken from wikimedia commons.