Respect for the Aged Day
This national holiday traces its origins to 1947, when Nomadani-mura (later Yachiyo-cho, currently Taka-cho), Hyōgo Prefecture, proclaimed September 15 Old Folks' Day (Toshiyori no Hi). Its popularity spread nationwide, and in 1966 it took its present name and status. Annually, Japanese media take the opportunity to feature the elderly, reporting on the population and highlighting the oldest people in the country. Commemorative silver sake cups. Since 1963, the Japanese government has given a commemorative silver sake cup to Japanese who reach the age of 100. In 1963 the number was 153, but  with numbers increasing, the government decided to reduce the size of the cup to cut costs in 2009. In 2014 29,357 received a cup. In 2017, Japan honored 32,097 people (27,461 women and 4,636 men) who turned 100-years old; they each received congratulatory letter and souvenir sake cup from the Prime Minister. According to this report the solid sterling silver cups were replaced with nickel alloy silver plated design which halved per unit cost saving $1-million annual budget. Celebration. On this holiday, people return home to visit and pay respect to the elders. Some people volunteer in  neighborhoods by making and distributing free lunch boxes to older citizens. Entertainments are sometimes provided by teenagers and children with various keirokai performances. Special television programs are also featured by Japanese media on this holiday.