Flight Attendant Day

What Is Flight Attendant Day?

Every March 5th is "Flight Attendant Day" (スチュワーデスの日, Suchuwādesu no Hi) in Japan. On March 5, 1931, the Tokyo Air Transport Company (東京航空輸送) announced the results of Japan's first recruitment examination for "air girls" (エアガール, ea gāru) — the earliest Japanese female cabin crew. The three women selected became Japan's first professional female flight cabin attendants — pioneering a role that would eventually become an internationally recognized profession and one of Japan's most competitive career aspirations for women through much of the 20th century.

Japan's First Air Girls

The 1931 "air girl" examination, held on February 5, drew about 140 applicants, of whom only three passed — a ratio of more than 40 to 1 that foreshadowed the fierce competition for flight attendant positions that would characterize Japanese aviation for decades. The three successful candidates were assigned to the company's scheduled passenger route linking Tokyo, Shimoda and Shimizu. (The idea of nurses as cabin crew came from the United States, where Ellen Church, a registered nurse, became the world's first stewardess with Boeing Air Transport in 1930.) Their role was genuinely novel: women in a public-facing professional role serving passengers in an elite new transportation medium.

The Flight Attendant Profession in Japan

Through the postwar era of commercial aviation's growth, Japanese airlines — particularly Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) — built flight attendant corps that were internationally recognized for their courtesy, professionalism, and service standards. "Cabin attendant" (客室乗務員, kyakushitsu jōmu-in, or CA) positions at major Japanese airlines became among the most sought-after professional positions for university-educated Japanese women, attracting thousands of applicants per opening.

Gender and Professional Aviation

Japan's flight attendant profession reflects broader patterns of women's professional participation in Japan — initially innovative in creating professional roles for women in a new industry, but also revealing in the extent to which attractiveness, youth, and service orientation were emphasized over other professional qualifications. Contemporary Japanese airlines have progressively reformed their hiring and retention practices to address these concerns.

Fun Facts

• Competition ratios: Cabin attendant jobs at major Japanese airlines have long drawn applicants by the thousands, with competition ratios of dozens to one being common — a reflection of the profession's prestige in Japanese popular culture.
• What to call them: "Stewardess" is the female form of "steward," a term borrowed from ships. In Japan the gender-neutral "kyakushitsu jōmu-in" (cabin crew) is now the standard term, and the popular "cabin attendant" is actually a Japanese-made English phrase.