On January 15th, yesterday, the country of Venezuela celebrated Teacher’s Day. On January 16th, both Thailand and Myanmar celebrate Teacher’s Day. It seems that this is the week where teachers are celebrated and appreciated.

But Venezuela, Thailand, and Myanmar are not the only countries that have an official “Teachers Day”.

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen all have Teachers Day.

98 countries around the world have Teachers Day. But do you know what country does not have Teachers Day?

It is Japan.

I hope you know that I love Japan. I love living here in Shikoku. But this is one thing I think is a big mistake. Japan needs to have a Teachers Day. I have seen teachers all over the world, and I think that the hardest working teachers in any country are your teachers. I think that the Japanese government needs to make a special holiday for Japanese teachers.

Japanese teachers work more days and more hours than any other teachers in the world. They work on weekends. They work late every day. Many Sundays they are coaching sports clubs, teaching in culture clubs, or doing paper work for the school. Japanese teachers work on holidays. They work through winter vacation, spring vacation, and summer vacation. They have huge jobs to do. They have huge responsibilities.

I think that many of your teachers love their work. They love to teach, they love to see you have success, and they love to see you have a great future. So, sometimes they are very strict, and sometimes they give you a push so you can be strong and smart. I hope that you can understand their feeling and that you can show them that you appreciate their work for you.

We are now in the final part of the school year. The third year high school students are looking to the future. They are preparing to fly away into colleges and universities all over the country. The wings they have are the wings that their teachers helped them make. The senior students will fly away soon, and it will be a wonderful thing. I believe that their teachers wish them great happiness and success in the future.

But don’t forget the good teachers who helped you. Don’t forget the teachers who stand behind you. I hope that one day we can see an official Teachers Day in Japan. That would be a great thing to see.