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Japan officially labels January 31 as Final Fantasy VII Day

The Japan Anniversary Organisation officially recognized today as Final Fantasy 7 Day in honor of the game's release in 1997.

TJ Denzer

January 31, 2023 8:25 AM

Image via Square Enix

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It’s a big day in Japan for the Final Fantasy series. On this day in 1997, Final Fantasy 7 came out, stunning the world with the series’ move to 3D graphics. Now it’s being recognized officially in the country with a new holiday. Japan has formally designated January 31 as Final Fantasy 7 day in the country, celebrating the game’s original launch on this same day in 1997.

The Japan Anniversary Organisation (JAO) officially registered Final Fantasy 7 Day on January 31, 2023, as shared by Square Enix itself. The JAO recognized Final Fantasy 7 as “a huge hit in Japan and overseas,” and shared hope that "more people will enjoy FF7, which is newly developed with the latest technology as the REMAKE series.” It’s not quite on the scale of a national holiday. Nobody is getting work off for Final Fantasy 7 Day. However, it will be one to watch for new announcements and news in the Final Fantasy series (especially regarding remakes and spinoffs of Final Fantasy 7) for the foreseeable future, somewhat in the vein of N7 Day for Mass Effect and May 4 for Star Wars.

For its part, Square Enix also had words to go with the recognition, thanking the JAO for the establishment of the new holiday. Original Final Fantasy 7 director and Final Fantasy 7 remake producer Yoshinori Kitase put together a full statement for the occasion:

We were pretty sure the director of Final Fantasy 7 would do that anyways, but the national recognition of your hard work has to feel good. With Final Fantasy 7 Day officially established in Japan, we’ll look forward to seeing what January 31 has in store for us in the years ahead for the Final Fantasy series. For now, there's always the fun of the PowerWash Simulator x Final Fantasy 7 collaboration DLC.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.