November 11 - Depends on where you are

November 11 is a somber day. It's a day that should be blustery, rainy, and cold. It certainly was that in Japan. However, the mood was distinctly different.

In Canada, we know the span of time after Halloween until November 11 is a time to get your poppy, reflect on wars, reflect on the people that have sacrificed themselves for the sake of not only our country, but the free world. In that sense, no one is thinking about Christmas (I hope) until at least after November 11. 

I think it's the same in countries like the U.K., France, New Zealand, and Australia. However, in other countries, November 11 has no meaning, or if you're in Asia, it has quite a different meaning...

In Asia, or at least China, Korea, and Japan, November 11 means "singles' day" or "pocky day." The reason is because of how the date looks when written out- 11/11. People think the ones represent pocky, a popular stick bread snack from Japan. On this day, pocky is offered on special or emphasized and people buy them for their friends. In Korea, on pocky day, it has become tradition to buy your significant other pocky. If you don't, you might end up single. 

The other meaning of November 11 is singles' day. Of course this is because of the date as well; 11/11 is full of ones, which represent people who are single. On this day a lot of singles go shopping to pamper themselves. I guess it's kind of a day to celebrate it or to find other singles and get a partner. I think this way of observing November 11 is more popular in China and Korea.

As you can probably guess, the mood of people is nothing special on this day. Coming from a country where this day is a holiday and a somber one at that, it is quite an empty feeling. I still pay my respects in my own way to our soldiers, but it is hard to feel so somber when no one else does. This year, like every other year, I made a poppy, had a minute of silence, and I reflected on the sacrifice of Canadians. It seems cheap to make such an important historical day about something as silly as pocky, shopping or finding a girlfriend or boyfriend. I can't change it though. 

In Japan, people don't pay respects to their fallen soldiers. I suppose the reason is that they are ashamed or in denial about their eager aggressive military past. However, I think it's important to honour those that did fight for their country, even though they were on the losing side. The individual soldier is not to blame for the horrendous acts done by the Japanese imperial army.

Today is November 12, so now I can start thinking about the holidays. It's still a little early, but they can't be ignored since Japan has been ready since closing hours on October 31.