Happy New Year 2018!

New Year is called “oshougatsu” in Japanese, and it indicates the time period especially from January 1st to 7th. Most Japanese rest during the first three days of the New Year. Most companies, offices, shops, and schools are closed.
It is said that “oshogatsu” was originally a festival to welcome Toshigami, a Shinto god, and to pray for a rich harvest for the year.
Now it is an event to celebrate the year.

Traditionally many Japanese people worship the sunrise on New Year’s Day (called “hatsuhinode”), and pay the first visit (“hatsumoude”) during these three days to a Shinto shrine or temple to pray for health and happiness of their families.

kadomatsu

There are varieties of New Year’s decorations.
For example, a pair of “kadomatsu” are placed in front of the gates or entrances of houses, hotels, shops, etc. It consists of three kinds of auspicious plants, namely, pine tree branches, three bamboo poles with different length, and plum small branches. Particularly pine is regarded as a symbol of longevity.

shimekazari

Entrances of houses　and shops are also decorated with  “shimekazari” made of “shimenawa”, sacred Shinto rope of rice straw decorated with auspicious objects such as bitter oranges, fern leaves, lobsters, etc. They are symbolic of prosperity, longevity, and good fortune. 

By the way, there are traditional dishes for the New Year in Japan.
Have you ever tried “zoni” or “osechi-ryori”?  If not, why not taste them? Zoni is a special soup boiled with rice cakes (“mochi”), vegetables, mushrooms, and other ingredients such as chicken or seafood. The shape of mochi and the kind of ingredients differ from district to district.

osechi-ryori

What about “osechi-ryori”? It is also a special dish prepared and served for the New Year. Varieties of specially prepared foods are   artistically arranged in a set of three- or four-tiered lacquer boxes. Osechi-ryori includes kazunoko (herring roe), kuromame (cooked black beans), ebi (lobsters), kurikinton (chestnuts), kamaboko (steamed fish paste), freeze-dried tofu, cooked vegetables such as carrot, mushroom, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, radish, etc.

Thus oshogatsu is one of the best opportunities to learn a traditional event in Japan. Why don’t you visit a shrine and a temple or try those special dishes during New Year’s Days? Maybe next year 2019?  You can refresh yourself!　Best wishes!

(by Kazuo)