Lost Decade (Japan) Decade. However, several Japanese policymakers have attempted reforms to address the malaise in the Japanese economy. After Shinzo Abe was elected as Japanese prime minister in December 2012, Abe introduced a reform program known as Abenomics which sought to address many of the issues raised by Japan's Lost Decade. His "three arrows" of reform intend to address Japan's chronically low inflation, decreasing worker productivity relative to other developed nations, and demographic issues raised by an aging population. Investor response to the announced reform was strong, and the Nikkei 225 rallied to 20,000 in May 2015 from a low of around
Public holidays in Japan Public holidays in Japan Prior to Japan's adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the dates of holidays were based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Thus, New Year's Day, for example, was celebrated at the beginning of spring, as it is in modern China, Korea and Vietnam. Japan has 16 national, government-recognized holidays. The national holidays in 2018 are as follows. <nowiki>*</nowiki> When a holiday falls on a Sunday it is celebrated the following Monday. The national holidays in 2019 are as follows. <nowiki>*</nowiki> When a holiday falls on a Sunday it is celebrated the following Monday. In addition