Shogatsu – New Year in Japan

はやいね？ Yes, I know my New Year post is a little early, but I may not be able to blog for a bit, so I thought I’d write this one now.

So, you’ve heard all about Christmas in Japan, and how it’s a bit of a non-event as far as actual events go (although commercially very much here!), so what do the people of Japan celebrate instead?  New Year.  Or, as it’s called in Japanese, ‘Shogatsu‘ (正月).

Yes, New Year is the big deal in Japan.  Christmas is about friends and partners, but New Year is about family time for most people (although I know some Japanese people who would prefer to have a Western-style New Year and go clubbing or something).

In the run up to New Year, most people are frantically writing their New Year’s Day cards, or ‘nengajo’ (年賀状).  The amazing thing about the Japanese postal system is that if you send the cards on time, they will be delivered on New Year’s Day!  That would never happen in England!  Writing Japanese New Year’s cards is quite time consuming for most people, I think.  These days, a lot of people use their computers to make the cards, though, which cuts down on writing time a bit!  Most ‘nengajo’ have the Chinese zodiac sign of the New Year on them, which for 2009 is the ox/cow.  (Happy ‘moo’ year, anyone?)

As with most traditional celebrations, food plays its part, of course.  At New Year in Japan, people eat ‘osechi‘.  Check out the link – it explains things much better than I could!  I plas to try osechi at New Year – I’ve heard you can buy these bento-style boxes in the department stores.  I think part of the reason for these boxes of food is that we are not supposed to work and cook on New Year’s Day – we can just eat from the osechi box.  I like that idea!

Another food that is traditional at New Year is mochi (one of my favourites!).  At New Year, people have ‘kagami mochi‘, which is a kind of edible decoration!  They remind me of snowmen…

Usually an orange is placed on top, and I think they are supposed to be eaten by January 11th.  Be careful if you eat one though – according to Wikipedia (from where I have shamelessly stolen these images!) there are usually a small number of recorded deaths from choking on mochi at New Year.  Eek!

Another big deal around this time of year in Japan is the ‘end of year party’, or ‘bonenkai‘ (忘年会).  Apparently this literally means “forget the year gathering”.  Interesting.  My ‘forget the year gathering’ will be on Saturday.  We’re having a drinking party at a local restaurant, and my mum is the guest of honour, as she will be arriving that day!

There’s a lot of great information on the Internet about New Year in Japan, so I don’t want to simply regurgitate everything I’ve read.  Check out Wikipedia and Japan Guide for fully comprehensive guides to New Year in Japan.  Everything above is simply my summary, based on the things that have stood out to me, so far, as being important.  After New Year, I will of course let you all know about how my first New Year in Japan was!

One thing I’m yet to figure out is which is more important at New Year – temples or shrines? On New Year’s Eve, bells are rung at Buddhist temples across Japan.  This is called ‘joya no kane‘ (除夜の鐘).  Each bell is rung 108 times, to send away the sins and bad things from the previous year.  The bell-ringing begins around 23.50, and continues into the new year until the 108th toll is heard. But, being a country of two religions (Buddhism and Shintoism), Shinto shrines need to be visited too.  This first visit of the year is called ‘Hatsumode‘ (初詣).  Many people pay a visit to a shrine between 1st and 3rd January, when they are off work.  They pray and make wishes for the coming year, and often buy o-mamori (good luck charms).

I’ve heard that there will be massive crowds at the temples and shrines in Kyoto, where I am headed for New Year, but I don’t really mind as it’s my first New Year in Japan, so I just want to experience it for what it is.  So, I guess I’ll head to a temple on 31st and then a shrine on 1st.  I’ve heard we should also eat special buckwheat noodles called ‘toshikoshi soba’ on 31st, so I’ll be doing that too!

Finally, I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog this year.  I will be away celebrating and exploring for a bit, but don’t worry, I’ll be back in 2009!

☆★☆

良いお年を!

yoi otoshi o!

I wish that you will have a good New Year!

☆★☆

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