祭日
さいじつ · saijitsu · JLPT N2 · noun
legal holiday
🎌 祭 (festival) + 日 (day): a day of festival, so a national holiday
祭 means festival or celebration and 日 means day. Together 祭日 names a day set aside for a festival or public celebration, which is why it covers national holidays.
祭 — hand 又 holding meat 月 (肉) + altar 示
Originally a pictograph showing a hand (又) offering a piece of meat (月, from 肉) onto an altar (示), depicting a ritual sacrifice. The meaning extended from 'sacrifice' to 'ceremony' or 'festival'. As a surname read Zhài, it refers to an ancient state.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.