I wrote about New Years in Japan last week and it occurred to me that I left several things out. For one, instead of Christmas cards, people in Japan send out New Years cards. You send one out to everyone you know (unless there was a death in their family) and then the post office delivers them all on January 1st. Usually, these post cards (called nengajo) are decorated on one side with the animal for that year (2010 is the year of the tiger) and feature the traditional greetings, あけましておめでとうございます ("akemashite omedeto gozaimasu" which basically means "Happy New Year") and 今年もよろしく ("kyonen mo yoroshiku" which means something like, "please continue to treat me well this year"). Many people decorate their own cards using special stamps, stickers, printing machines, etc.
Waking up on new years morning and getting that stack of post cards stuck together with a rubberband is really a treat (even though I usually only got a few myself and one of them was always from my dentist).
Another Japanese New Year tradition is otoshidama, or, giving money to kids. Sweet.
Food is important on new years. Traditionally, the new year is celebrated for three days and for those three days you are supposed to relax and not do any cooking. Thus, the osechi ryori.Osechi is a bunch of food usually served in a lacquer tray with different compartments in it for each type of food. When you are hungry, you get out the tray and eat some of the food, then you put it away again. All of the little foods have special meanings, such as eating long noodles to ensure a long life, or eating fish eggs to ensure fertility.
Another traditional food eaten at the new year is mochi - little pounded rice cakes. These are so sticky that every year newspapers and TV news shows report the number of old people who died from choking on them!
Another tradition is to watch the extremely long annual TV special, the Red and White Song Festival, where two teams (one red and one white) made up of popular musical acts from the year, compete by singing/performing their hit songs. The teams include pop musicians as well as traditional Enka singers. You can read more about this show, known as the Kohaku, here. This year, apparently, that Susan Boyle woman is set to appear.
Here is a post from the blog I kept when I was living in Japan, complete with a hatsumode picture from my cell phone.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Everyone! Kyonen mo yoroshiku!
I spent the holidays in Japan this year, saving money instead of going on a trip. Since several of my co-workers decided to go to Thailand, I guess it's a good thing I decided to take it easy. I spent Christmas with my host family and New Year's with my friends in the snow. A special thanks to my friends and family who remembered me with a card or package! A little bit of home for the holidays!
Here is a picture of my first shrine visit of the year (Hatsumode)!
I spent the holidays in Japan this year, saving money instead of going on a trip. Since several of my co-workers decided to go to Thailand, I guess it's a good thing I decided to take it easy. I spent Christmas with my host family and New Year's with my friends in the snow. A special thanks to my friends and family who remembered me with a card or package! A little bit of home for the holidays!
Here is a picture of my first shrine visit of the year (Hatsumode)!
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