Annual event owes its existence to fortuitous wordplay and appreciation of strips of exposed thigh.

Every October, Japan holds larger and larger Halloween celebrations, and in December, Christmas has long been part of its cultural landscape. However, Thanksgiving, at least in its American, celebrated-in-November form, has yet to catch on in Japan.

That causes a couple of problems, first and foremost that there’s one less reason to stuff yourself silly. What’s more, no Thanksgiving means no official kick-off for the Christmas shopping season. That means no Black Friday on which to snag great bargains, and by association, no Black Friday also means no Cyber Monday.

But there was still plenty of reason for Japanese Internet users to go online on Monday, November 28.

https://twitter.com/krkrakss/status/802899416264736768 https://twitter.com/ftmm_gz/status/799237130929086464

Thanks to the vagaries of the Japanese language, the numerals 1, 2, and 8 can be pronounced i, ni, and hai, which means that one possible reading of “11-28” is “ii nihai,” which translates to “nice knee-high socks.”

▼ The nihai are looking pretty ii

https://twitter.com/bierobot1/status/798818405474189312

As such, it’s become a bit of an Internet tradition for cosplayers, models, and their fans to share pictures of knee-high socks on November 28.

https://twitter.com/rutoooo/status/803145185269989377 https://twitter.com/kawasaki__aya/status/803111135977172992

Those who regularly observe Nice Knee-High Socks Day have largely settled into the consensus that, while not specifically mentioned in the 11-28/ii nihai wordplay, the day is really supposed to be about knee-high socks. Still, no one made a stink about the inclusion of a knee-high boot photo in this year’s festivities.

https://twitter.com/86bam86/status/803013218410999808

So apparently, Nice Knee-High Socks Day is capable of inspiring the same sort of egalitarian goodwill as other, more high-minded holidays.

Source: IT Media
Featured image: Twitter/@ miyu_ku