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New Year’s in Japan, More Than a Party

While New Year’s Day is a holiday in many parts of the world, the occasion has a unique significance to the Japanese. The New Years celebrations last for three-days in Japan and is considered to be very special. New Years is looked at as a favorable occasion and is filled with traditional activities that will hopefully result in a more successful year. One of the oldest Japanese customs during the New Year is to not carry over any debts or tasks from one year to the next. As a result, as the end of the year approaches, businessmen and non business men a like scramble to wind up their affairs of the old year and try to pay off all their obligations by New Year’s Eve.

Another tradition of the Japanese is Susuharai, or soot sweeping. Homemakers all over the nation work extra hard preparing for this holiday by cleaning both the inside and outside of the house. They do this in order to clean away the stains, both physical and spiritual from the past year, in order to purify the home and make it fresh for the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, a pine decoration known as Kadomatsu is set up on both sides of the front entrance. The Kadomatsu is thought to welcome good luck into the house. Another, equally important decoration is the Shimenawa, which is a sacred rope made of straw on which zigzag strips of paper have been hung. The Shimenawa is hung over the front entrance in order to prevent “evil spirits” from entering the home. All of these chores are done before the holiday season begins since the holiday itself is supposed to be a time of rest from housework.

New Year’s Dishes or Shogatsu, are meant to free the housewife from her regular cooking duties, since as mentioned above, the holiday season is meant to be a time for rest. An important food at New Year is Omochi, which is steamed rice that has been pounded and formed into cakes. Vegetable dishes are also popular during the New Year holiday, partly because they are easy to prepare and easy to store. Food shops are generally closed throughout the holiday period; therefore it is necessary to stock up on all of these items in advance.

On New Year’s Eve, most people spend time with their families in order to greet the New Year together as a family. The family waits up to hear the Joya-no-Kane, or the midnight tooling of the temple bells. At the stroke of midnight, the entire nation listens to the tolling of the great bells at Japan’s Buddhist temples. Some of the larger temples draw crowds to watch this event. The bells sound 108 times, since according to Buddhism, a man has 108 sins and that by hearing these bells, he can be relived of them one at a time. Families traditionally spend New Year’s morning briefly worshiping at home and then use the day for making resolutions which they intend to keep for the coming year. Children are presented by their parents with New Year’s gifts, usually in the form of money placed in special little envelopes.

This three-day holiday is a time to visit shrines and temples, making pledges for the coming year and praying for good luck. The custom of Nenshi, or paying calls on friends and relatives to greet them on the New Year, is very popular as well as sending Nengajo, or New Year’s cards. On the third day of the holiday, which is the last official day, an ancient ritual known as Genshisai, a rare dance and musical art, is performed at the Imperial Court.

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