Japanese | Word of the Day

Hello friends,
After a long 10 day vacation, I'm back to the grind of everyday life here in Japan. While it was fairly easy for me to get reacquainted with my work habits, I've been reading news articles about others whom are having much more difficulty falling back into the flow. Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of people DISLIKED having a long vacation as the pressure of work no doubt weighed heavily on their conscious through out the holiday period. Which, more or less, is a segway into today's word of the day, "五月病/ごがつびょう/gogatsubyou ・May Blues".

The generic definition for May Blues suggest that it is experienced by individuals whom have a difficulty adjusting their mental state to a new environment. This type of anxiety is commonly observed in college freshman and new employees, but can refer to situations in which there is a prolonged absence from work/school. But why is it referred to as 五月病？ The reasoning is simple, but lets breakdown these kanji first.
五月病/ごがつびょう

• 五/ご/go: five
• 月/がつ/gatsu*: month or moon
• 病/びょう/byou: illness, symptom

*Beware: The pronunciation of this character may change depending on context.

The fifth month is obviously May, but the reason why "sickness" is associated with it is due to Japan's imperial calendar. In previous posts about job hunting and the moving season, I mentioned that the start of the fiscal year is observed at the beginning of April. Since that is the case, schools and business start not long afterwards, leaving new recruits/students to become acclimated to their new environments. Since change isn't always welcome, the discomfort manifests as May Blues.

Interesting? I've mentioned other illnesses in word of the day posts prior. You can read about that here. What do you think? Have you experienced depression or anxiety after a long vacation? How about from being in a different environment? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~

Until next time,
Peace