Photo Album Day (Album no Hi)

What Is Photo Album Day?

December 5th is "Photo Album Day" (Album no Hi), established by Fujicolor (Fujifilm). The date comes from a wordplay where "11" is read as "ii" (good) and "05" as "omoide" (memories), forming "ii omoide" (good memories) — and December 5th was chosen as the date closest to this combination (11/05 ≈ "ii omoide" = good memories). It was designated as a day, at year's end, to organize photo albums and look back on family memories. It's an anniversary that calls attention to the importance of preserving the vast numbers of photos taken on smartphones in the form of an album.

How Photo Album Culture Has Changed

• The Film Era: Pasting developed photos one by one into an album was once a cherished family activity
• The Digital Camera Era (2000s onward): The number of photos taken exploded, and the number of unprinted photos surged
• The Smartphone Era (2010s onward): Huge numbers of photos pile up in the cloud, often left unorganized with the thought of "I'll sort them out someday"
• Photo Books (Today): High-quality, book-style albums that can be ordered online have become popular, with services like Shimauma Print and Nohana gaining popularity

Tips for Preserving and Organizing Photos

• Use the "memories" features of Google Photos or iCloud to have slideshows automatically generated
• Make a habit of creating one photo book per year as a record of your child's growth
• Print your favorite photos as L-size prints and display them in a desktop photo stand
• Back up your data in multiple places — be thorough with cloud storage in case your phone is lost or damaged by water

At this time of year, look back on this year's photos and try putting them together into an album.