New Year’s Eve in Japan,Ōmisoka(大晦日), is usually spent at home with family. With the house fresh and anew from New Year’s cleaning, families gather together (often under thekotatsu– an amazing low table with a heated blanket draped over it under which you can tuck the lower half...
A New Year tradition from the Czech Republic suggests that apples can help foretell the future. By cutting an apple in half and seeing how the seeds are placed, people believe you can predict how the year will go. If the seeds form a cross it’s considered a bad omen, but if they ma...
This tradition reminds a little bit of the countdown performed in some of the western countries. In Japan, it is special and observed differently in every region. A few minutes before the beginning of the New Year, the Buddhist temples start ringing a large bell ("kane") 108 times as par...
The final three weekdays of the year are generally taken as holidays by companies and schools in Japan. January 3rd, too, as part of the sanganichi—the first three days of the New Year—is treated as a holiday by most people. When is New Year's Day? New Year's Day is the first ...
Details the Osechi Ryori meal, a New Year tradition, in Japan. Association of the meal with health and good harvest; Components of the meal; Significance of meal parts.Nagata, YukiSkipping Stones
From the singing of Kohaku Uta Gassen, the strength and tradition in sumo wrestling, the sweet delights of Black Thunder, and the surprises hidden within fukubukuro, Japan welcomes the new year with traditional celebrations that include all ages and are exciting!
THE NEW YEAR BABY: The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year has roots in ancient Greece. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. Early Christians tried to stop the tradition of using a baby to symbolize the new year, but its popularity as a symbol of re...
The New Year’s Essentials In Japan Hatsumode: The First Shrine or Temple Visit of the New Year The Japanese tradition ofvisiting a shrine or temple for the first time in the new yearis calledhatsumode. The first visit of the year may take place immediately on New Year's Day to hear ...
Each family has a different tradition for New Year’s Eve dinner, but the popular menus includeSushi, sashimi, andHot Potsuch asSukiyaki(above),Yosenabe, andShabu shabu(below). In some regions of Japan, people even start eating osechi ryori on New Year’s Eve. ...
Another New Year’s tradition centered around mochi is kagami mochi. Kagami mochi is made of two round stacked mochi cakes (the bottom slightly larger than the top), topped with a Japanese bitter orange called daidai. These are placed on altars at home as an offering to deities, symbolizing...