Not A Government Holiday, But Pretty Close
The very first Dragon Quest game was released 32 years ago today. As the series has ballooned to pretty monstrous proportions in Japan, it should come as no surprise that this is now a proper holiday. At the very least, Dragon Quest Day been approved by the Japan Anniversary Association.
Apparently, it’s possible to have any given day recognized as a holiday in Japan by submitting the request (along with 100,000 Yen) to the JAA for consideration. Since the submission was approved, it looks like the Association has recognized Dragon Quest Day as a proper Japanese holiday. I mean, it might not be a national holiday, but I’m sure it will make its way onto a calendar or two.
Sadly, we won’t be able to celebrate with the latest Dragon Quest game until September 4th. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age will be coming to PS4 this fall. Meanwhile, there are a few DQ games already available over here for all sorts of platforms. Personally, I prefer playing through the original game once a year or so on whatever platform they’ve ported it to most recently. You can even play it on your phone now!