New Year in Japan is an annual festival with its own customs. This holiday has been celebrated since 1873 according to the Gregorian calendar on January 1 of each year.
Japanese New Year Traditions
A photo of kadomatsu (traditional New Year's decoration) is presented just above. At the beginning of each year, there are many traditions to observe in Japan. For example, the entrance to houses and shops is decorated with pine or bamboo decorations or Shimenawa braided straw ropes (the origins of this custom are the Shinto religion). At this time of the year, the Japanese cook and eat mochi, soft rice cakes, and osechi ryori. This is the traditional food that they associate with the holiday. New Year's traditions in Japan include thanksgiving rituals for a good harvest, developed over the centuries by peasants, mainly employed in agriculture, as well as ancient religious ceremonies. All this has a special meaning.
Seeing off the old year. Japanese New Year Traditions
Pictures andhuge posters, as well as kites, can be found in many shopping centers (pictured). Without a doubt, December 31st is a very important day for the Japanese. Not surprisingly, many people stay up all night on the occasion of the holiday. Many traditions of celebrating the New Year in Japan are still preserved, but the most famous custom dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868). This is the preparation of buckwheat noodles (soba). On December 31, the Japanese eat this product at lunch or in the evening as a light snack, so that their life is as long as this thin and long noodles. However, eating soba after midnight is considered bad luck, as the Japanese believe it can bring bad luck to the home. With the approach of the New Year, the air around is filled with the sound of church bells that ring 108 times in the last moments of the passing day. One of the explanations for the bell ringing is the renunciation of 108 human desires and passions. In some temples, ordinary people are allowed to take part in this ceremony.
The first rays of the sun - the first prayer in the new year
In Japan, it is believed that the first rays of the rising sun on the first day of the new year have magical powers. Prayer at this time is a special phenomenon and has been very popular since the Meiji era (1868-1912). Even today, crowds of people climb to the tops of mountains or sea coasts, from where the sunrise is clearly visible, to pray for he alth and family well-being in the new year. Another custom that continues to this day isvisiting a temple or church. Even those people who do not usually go to churches or temples take time on the New Year to pray for he alth and a happy family life. For women, this is also a unique opportunity to dress up in a bright colorful kimono, and the atmosphere becomes even more festive.
Festive New Year's ceremonies
The tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan continues with the decoration of cities "inside and out". For several days after Christmas, the front doors to buildings and shops in Japan are decorated with pine and bamboo branches. This custom is carried out to glorify the Shinto gods, since, according to legend, the spirits of the gods live in trees. In addition, decorations made of pine, which remains green even in winter, and bamboo, which grows quickly and straight, symbolize the strength that helps to overcome many adversities. The entrance to ordinary houses is decorated with Shimenawa braided straw rope. This symbolizes that the house is clean and free to welcome spirits and gods.
Traditional dishes
After the New Year's bells ring and the first visit to a temple or church is made, many people return home to enjoy a traditional meal with their families. Such food is called o-sechi. Originally these dishes were meant to be offerings to the Shinto gods, but they are also "happy meals" that bring prosperity to families. Each ingredient has a specialvalue, and dishes are prepared so that they can stay fresh and not spoil during all the New Year holidays, which last about a week.
Mochi
Another tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan is the preparation of rice mochi. Boiled glutinous rice is placed in wooden containers similar to baskets. One person fills it with water, while another beats it with a large wooden mallet. After mashing, the rice forms a sticky white mass. Mochi is prepared in advance, before the New Year, and eaten in early January.
Postcards
The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest times for Japanese postal services. In Japan, there is a tradition of sending New Year greeting cards to friends and family, similar to the Western custom of giving them at Christmas. Their original purpose was to let your distant friends and relatives know about you and your family. In other words, this custom existed in order to tell those people whom you see infrequently that you are alive and well. The Japanese try to send postcards in such a way that they arrive on January 1st. Postal workers guarantee that greeting cards will be delivered on January 1st if they are sent between mid and late December and are marked with the word nengajō. In order to deliver all messages on time, postal services usually hire part-time students.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Beethoven's ninth symphony with choral accompaniment is a New Year's season tradition in Japan. So, in December 2009, in the Land of the Rising Sun, this work was presented in 55 versions of the leading orchestras.
Japanese New Year Books
Now you can find quite a lot of books and articles about the tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan in English, Russian, Japanese, French, German and other languages. The Land of the Rising Sun has always aroused interest with its originality and uniqueness. Thus, the book, which reveals the traditions of celebrating the New Year in Japan, in English called The Japanese New Year's festival, games and pastimes by the author Helen Cowen Gunsaulus contains a small but rather capacious essay on this extensive topic. Those who are fluent in foreign languages will be interested to look at the world of Japanese culture through the eyes of a resident of America or any other country. The recommended book immerses readers in the world of the tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan in English. The translation can be found on the Internet in the mode of electronic libraries. This topic is quite interesting and extensive. It's even better to go on a trip to Japan and see firsthand how a high-tech industrial country with huge megacities and skyscrapers seems to return to the past during the holiday, paying tribute to traditions. This is truly a unique phenomenon in modern culture.
