Japan is on holiday. From Saturday, September 19 through Wednesday, September 23, 2026, our warehouses and the factories that build your gear are closed for Silver Week. Everything reopens on Thursday, September 24.
What this means for your order
- Shipping from Japan pauses for the five days. Orders placed now are still welcome and will be processed when the team returns on September 24.
- Made-to-order gear waits too. Many Isami gloves and protective pieces are custom made in Japan, and those workshops are closed as well. Expect a few extra days on top of the usual lead time.
- ChokeSports stays open. Our store is fully operational and our support team is always available to help with anything, any inquiry. Email us here and we will answer, whether it is a sizing question, an order update, or help choosing gear.
What is Silver Week?
Japan's best-known long break is Golden Week in late April and early May. Silver Week is its quieter cousin, and it only happens when the calendar lines up.
Two national holidays make it possible. Respect for the Aged Day (Keiro no Hi) falls on Monday, September 21 and honors elders. Autumnal Equinox Day (Shubun no Hi) falls on Wednesday, September 23, when families visit graves and remember ancestors. Japanese law says a normal day sandwiched between two holidays becomes a holiday itself, so Tuesday, September 22 is off too. Add the weekend and you get five straight days.
That is rare. This is the first Silver Week since 2015, and the next one will not come until 2032.
A season worth stopping for
The equinox marks the real turn from summer to autumn in Japan. This is the season of higan, when red spider lilies (higanbana) appear along rice fields and riverbanks almost overnight, and when families eat ohagi, sweet rice balls coated in red bean paste. Trains and highways fill up, and much of the country goes home or heads for the mountains.
We have been the official international distributor for Isami and Reversal since 2006, so this rhythm is familiar to us. When Japan rests, so do the people who make your gear.
Planning a gear order?
Order now and you are first in line on September 24. We will get your gear moving as soon as Japan is back at work.
Enjoy the break, wherever you are.
The ChokeSports Team
