New Year in Japan is an annual festival with its own customs. This holiday has been celebrated since 1873 on the Gregorian calendar on January 1 of each year.
Japanese New Year Traditions
A photo of Kadomatsu (traditional New Year's decoration) is presented a little higher. At the beginning of each year, many traditions can be observed in Japan. For example, the entrance to houses and shops is decorated with pine or bamboo decorations or woven straw ropes of Shimenawa (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 oseti-ryori. This is a traditional food that they associate with the holiday. The traditions of New Year's Eve in Japan include thanksgiving rituals for a good harvest, which have been 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. New Year traditions in Japan
Pictures and huge posters, as well as kites can be found in many shopping centers (pictured). No doubt December 31 is a very important day for the Japanese. It is not surprising that many people on the occasion of the holiday do not sleep all night. 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 noodle. However, eating soba after midnight is considered a bad omen, as the Japanese believe that this can bring bad luck to the house. As the New Year approaches, the air around is filled with the sound of church bells that ring 108 times in the last moments of the day. One of the explanations of the bell ringing is the renunciation of 108 human desires and passions. In some temples, ordinary people are allowed to attend 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 it 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 health and family well-being in the new year. Another custom that has survived to this day is visiting a temple or church. Even those people who usually don’t go to churches or temples take time out in the New Year to pray for health and a happy family life. For women, this is also a unique opportunity to put on a bright colorful kimono, and the atmosphere becomes even more festive.
Festive new year ceremonies
The traditions of New Year's celebration in Japan continue with the decoration of cities "inside and out." For several days after Christmas, the entrance 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 directly, symbolize the strength that helps overcome many adversities. The entrance to ordinary houses is decorated with wicker straw rope Simenava. This symbolizes that the house is clean and free to greet spirits and gods.
Traditional dishes
After the New Year's bells ring off and the first visit to the temple or church is made, many people return home to enjoy traditional family food. Such food is called o-section. Initially, these dishes were intended for offerings to the Shinto gods, but it is also a “happy meal” that brings well-being to families. Each of the ingredients is of particular importance, and the dishes are prepared so that they can remain fresh and not go bad during all New Year holidays, which last about a week.
Mochi
Another tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan is the preparation of rice mochi. Cooked glutinous rice is placed in wooden containers similar to baskets. One person fills it with water, and the other hits with a large wooden mallet. After mashing, the rice forms a sticky white mass. Moti cooked in advance, before the New Year, and eat in early January.
Postcards
The end of December and the beginning of January is the most stressful time for Japanese postal services. In Japan, there is a tradition of sending New Year greeting cards to friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of giving them for Christmas. Their initial goal was to give your distant friends and relatives the news of themselves and your family. In other words, this custom existed to tell those people whom you rarely see that you are alive and well. The Japanese are trying to send postcards so that they arrive on January 1. Postal service employees guarantee that greeting cards will be delivered on January 1 if they were sent between mid-late December and marked with the word nengajĹŤ. 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 tradition of the New Year season in Japan. So, in December 2009 in the Land of the Rising Sun, this work was presented in 55 versions of leading orchestras.
Books about the New Year in Japan
Now you can find 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 in its originality and uniqueness. So, a book that reveals the traditions of the New Year's celebration in Japan, in English, entitled The Japanese New Year's festival, games and pastimes by Helen Cowen Gunsaulus, contains a small, but quite capacious essay on this vast 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. Recommended book immerses readers in the world of tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan in English. The translation can be found on the Internet in electronic library mode. This topic is quite interesting and extensive. Better yet, take a trip to Japan and witness first-hand how a high-tech industrial country with huge megacities and skyscrapers during the holiday seems to be returning to the past, paying tribute to traditions. This is truly a unique phenomenon in modern culture.