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Happy Meat Day [1]

['Andrew Yi']

Date: 2022-07-29  

Japanese culture has a fondness for homonyms (a word that sounds the same or is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning), which is how we get to the Japanese concept of "meat day". The numbers "2", pronounced Ni as in "need", and "9", pronounced Kyū as in "cuckoo clock"; combine these two singular numbers together (like saying two nine instead of twenty nine) and the result sounds like the Japanese word for meat (Niku). This is why the 29th day of each month came to be considered by some as meat day:

Today March 29th is #肉の日 Meat Day in Japan!

The 29th of every month is "meat day" because 2-9 (ni-kyuu) sounds like "niku" the word for meat in Japanese. Some restaurants and grocery stores in Japan offer discounts and special deals on meat dishes today! 🥩 pic.twitter.com/5vnxaM9nKE — SynchroLife 🍣 Best Restaurant App in Japan (@synchrojapan) March 29, 2019

It's 29 (niku, meat) day and this yakiniku shop has 29% off. What a deal! #IRySuperb pic.twitter.com/2D2ZSqSyqi — Michael(マイケル)@SMASH 7/16-17 (@norabunoraibu) May 29, 2022

Leap years create a special situation in Japanese culture, where February 29th has come to be known as Japan's national meat day, pronounced "uruo niku no hi":

The 9th February in Japan is a celebration of meat. Like with Twin-tail day, the concept of "Meat Day" (Niku no Hi = 肉の日) originates from simple wordplay: In Japanese, "two" is pronounced at "ni", and nine is "ku" pic.twitter.com/03En1pegYS — meat (@meatscave) February 9, 2022

Once every four years! February 9 & February 29 "W Meat Day Campaign" Held! All-you-can-eat lamb shabu and Genghis Khan for 2,900 yen at lamb specialty store "Merino" https://t.co/gjyT5byR89 pic.twitter.com/4FDGS3tQI6 — re-how.net (@rehownet2) February 3, 2020

Here's a more concise description of Japan's national meat day from The Japan Society:

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