Today is the start of #Silver #Week in Japan, so called because it contains a cluster of national holidays, starting with Respect for the Aged Day (#敬老の日). On this day, we pay respect to the country’s growing senior population, also called “the silver generation”.

But why do we refer to them as “silver” in the first place?

My immediate guess is that silver hair is seen by many as a symbol for elderly people. Another theory claims that it originates from “silver seats”, a term formerly used by JR, Japan Railways, to designate priority seats reserved for the elderly. Legend has it, silver-coloured fabric happened to be the only stock available in plentiful supply when priority seats were hastily introduced in time for Respect-for-the-Aged Day in 1973.

Meanwhile, the “silver economy” has become a popular expression in Western countries too. It seems to me that the word silver has earned its place as a synonym for the elderly.

🟩 🟦

Is there any colour that we associate with the youth?
When somebody is young and inexperienced, you may call them “green”, whereas we Japanese call them “blue”. Greenhorns – those who are new to or inexperienced at a particular activity – are known as “blue lads” (青二才) in Japan.

Here, you have to bear in mind the old Japanese habit of mixing up blue and green. We say blue when we mean green and vice versa, e.g. green traffic light (青信号 blue light) and dark blue sky (紺碧の空, here 碧 literally means green).

🔘 = 👴, 🟢 = 👦 ??

So can we say sliver stands for the aged and green for the young? Well, not exactly. There is always an exception to the rule.

I remember my Spanish teacher once taught me a certain term with a twinkle 

in her eye: un viejo verde (an old green).
It means a dirty old man who tells bawdy jokes to young ladies.
Coincidentally, such jokes are called “blue jokes” in English. (Is there some confusion between blue and green in the British mind as well?)

🟥 🟧 🟨 🟩 🟦 🟪 🟫 

 Each colour, be it silver, green or blue, has its own #cultural #connotations that make the world a more colourful place.

#translation  #holidaysInJapan