休み
やすみ
yasumi
= rest / day off / vacation / break / absence
休み (yasumi) means rest, a day off, vacation, or time off — and in Japan, where overwork is a national concern and concepts like 有給休暇 (yuukyuu kyuuka — paid leave) are politically charged topics, this simple word carries more social weight than its English equivalent.
Yasumi covers a range of time-off meanings: (1) a break or rest during activity — 休憩 (kyuukei) is more formal; 休み is casual; (2) a day off work or school — 会社の休み (kaisha no yasumi — company holiday/day off); (3) vacation or a holiday period — 夏休み (natsuyasumi — summer vacation), 冬休み (fuyuyasumi — winter break), 春休み (haruyasumi — spring vacation); (4) absence — 学校を休む (gakkou wo yasumu — to be absent from school). The verb is 休む (yasumu — to rest, to take a break, to be absent).
The three school vacation periods define the Japanese student calendar: 夏休み (natsuyasumi — summer vacation, late July to August, roughly 40 days), 冬休み (fuyuyasumi — winter break, late December to early January, about 2 weeks), and 春休み (haruyasumi — spring vacation, late March to early April, about 2 weeks). For workers, the major vacation period is お盆 (obon — mid-August) when many companies shut down and people return to their hometowns.
休 (kyuu/yasu) depicts a person (人) resting against a tree (木) — a beautifully intuitive image of someone taking a break in the shade. One of the most recognizable kanji for its elegant simplicity.
Everyday use
今日は仕事が休みだから、ゆっくり家で過ごす。
Kyou wa shigoto ga yasumi da kara, yukkuri ie de sugosu.
I have the day off work today, so I’ll spend it relaxing at home.
Casual / Social Media
夏休みの予定まだ何も決まってない！どこか行きたいな
Natsuyasumi no yotei mada nanimo kimatte nai! Dokoka ikitai na
Haven’t decided any plans for summer vacation yet! I want to go somewhere
Formal / Cultural context
年次有給休暇の取得率向上に向けて、労働基準法の改正により使用者は労働者に年5日以上の有給休暇を確実に取得させる義務を負うこととなった。
Nenji yuukyuu kyuuka no shutoku-ritsu koujou ni mukete, roudou kijun-hou no kaisei ni yori shiyousha wa roudousha ni nen go-nichi ijou no yuukyuu kyuuka wo tashika ni shutoku saseru gimu wo ou koto to natta.
Toward improving paid leave utilization rates, an amendment to the Labor Standards Act made it mandatory for employers to ensure that workers take at least 5 days of paid annual leave.
休み and the concept of taking time off touch a central tension in Japanese work culture. Japan famously has some of the lowest paid leave utilization rates among developed nations — workers legally entitled to 20 days of annual paid leave (有給休暇, yuukyuu kyuuka) often take only 10–12, partly due to workplace culture where taking leave can be seen as imposing on colleagues or signaling low commitment. The extreme end of this culture produces 過労死 (karoushi — death from overwork), which prompted legal reforms requiring employers to ensure workers take a minimum of 5 days per year.
The word 休み also structures Japanese time in pleasurable ways. ゴールデンウィーク (Goolden Wiiku — Golden Week, late April to early May), a cluster of national holidays, is Japan’s most concentrated vacation period, during which travel bookings surge and popular destinations overflow. お盆 (obon — mid-August) sees Japan’s other great annual migration, as families return to their hometowns. The Japanese phrase 休みを取る (yasumi wo toru — to take time off) is a simple expression but one that carries the weight of a cultural negotiation between the individual’s need for rest and the workplace expectation of constant availability.
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