So I have to be careful here b/c my experience is 30y old, so may be inaccurate or things may have changed since. But Wikipedia says: Public holidays in Japan

So I have to be careful here b/c my experience is 30y old, so may be inaccurate or things may have changed since. But Wikipedia says: Public holidays in Japan (国民の祝日, kokumin no shukujitsu) were first established by the Public Holiday Law (国民の祝日に関する法律, Kokumin no Shukujitsu ni Kansuru Hōritsu, lit. "An Act on public holidays"; Act No. 178 of 1948) of 1948. It has since been amended 11 times to add additional holidays, the latest being in 2018, for a total of 16 recognized holidays. Article 3 of this law specifies that when a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next working day shall become a public holiday, known as furikae kyūjitsu (振替休日, "compensatory public holiday", literally "substitute holiday").[3] Article 3 also determines that any day that falls between two other national holidays shall also become a holiday, known as kokumin no kyūjitsu (国民の休日, literally "citizens' holiday"). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Japan) So not 100% what I said—didn't know that bridge days are officially holidays, but not 'completely false' and 'not the general rule'. One has to take into account tho that not everyone can take off on holidays; shops are generally open; department stores have their own holiday rules in Japan. Not entirely sure about Universities, but I seem to remember my school followed national holidays.