G-32 ・ Puzzle ・ 2–4 min

Holiday Golf — Three holes a day — use as little leave as you can

A daily calendar puzzle about turning a few days of paid leave into a long break, played on the 2027 calendar. Each hole shows two or three Monday-start weeks. Days off — weekends plus Japan's 2027 public holidays and substitute holidays as published by the Cabinet Office — are blue-grey; weekdays are white. Tap a weekday to place orange leave: the days off it touches join into one band, and the “N-day break” counter grows on the spot. Reach the target length on the flag and you can confirm. Your strokes are the leave you placed plus a one-stroke penalty for every leave you took back, and par is the fewest days of leave that reach the target. Par and every alternative answer were found in advance by trying every placement, so each hole is guaranteed solvable. After you confirm, the fewest-leave days open in gold next to your own. The three holes are set by the date in Japan time (every day from November 2026 to December 2027), and you can share “Holiday Golf 11/3 9 strokes (par 8)” with colored squares for each hole's band — never the answer dates. Your first day starts with a Golden Week warm-up hole that builds a 9-day break.

How to play

  1. Blue-grey cells are days off (weekends and holidays); white cells are weekdays. The flag shows the target break length and par (the fewest days of leave)
  2. Tap a weekday to place leave (orange). The band of connected days off and the “N-day break” counter grow
  3. Reach the target and “Reached!” appears with a Confirm button. You can adjust until you confirm, but taking leave back costs a 1-stroke penalty
  4. Strokes = leave placed + penalties. Confirm to reveal the fewest-leave days in gold
  5. After 3 holes you get your total, the difference from par, your best and a preview of tomorrow's hole 1. Start a practice round right from the result

Keyboard: ←→↑↓ choose a day / Enter or Space place or remove leave / C confirm / Enter next hole / R practice from the result

Japan's 2027 holidays

Days off are weekends plus the 16 national holidays and 1 substitute holiday for 2027 listed by Japan's Cabinet Office. The Vernal Equinox Day falls on Sunday, March 21, so under Article 3(2) of the National Holidays Act (when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the nearest following non-holiday becomes a day off) Monday, March 22 is a day off. The National Astronomical Observatory announces the next year's equinox days in the Official Gazette every February. Company holidays, New Year closures and summer breaks are not counted in this game.

2027 examples (counted the way this game counts)

Golden Week: leave on May 6 (Thu) and May 7 (Fri) gives May 1 (Sat) – May 9 (Sun), 9 days off for 2 days of leave (the warm-up answer). Add April 30 (Fri) and 3 days of leave give April 29 – May 9, 11 days. February: leave on Feb 22 (Mon) and Feb 24 (Wed) around the Emperor's Birthday (Feb 23) gives Feb 20 (Sat) – Feb 24 (Wed), 5 days (demo hole 1). September: leave on Sep 21, 22 and 24 links Respect for the Aged Day (Sep 20) and the Autumnal Equinox (Sep 23) into Sep 18 (Sat) – Sep 26 (Sun), 9 days. All are counted from the holiday list above and weekends only.

Sources

Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, “National Holidays” (Japanese) https://www8.cao.go.jp/chosei/shukujitsu/gaiyou.html and the holiday list CSV for 1955–2027 https://www8.cao.go.jp/chosei/shukujitsu/syukujitsu.csv . Both checked on November 7, 2026; the game's 2027 table (17 days) matches them.

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