In Gunma prefecture, there is a holiday on November 4. I hope you all enjoyed this day. In Canada, our national holiday is on November 11. It is called Remembrance Day.
From 1914 to 1918, Canada fought in a war, called World War I or the Great War. Many people died in this war, and on November 11 Canadians have a “moment of silence” for the dead. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (11:11 a.m. on November 11), for one minute nobody speaks. We also wear poppies on our clothes, a symbol from the famous Canadian poem “In Flanders Fields,” written during World War I.
Here is the poem:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
You can find a Japanese translation at this page.
Thank you for reading the ALT Report, and I hope you think about Remembrance Day this weekend. It is a very important day for Canadians.
-Devon (Kasachu ALT)