The is an annual

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

, on January 1 of each year, . However, some traditional events of the Japanese New Year are partially celebrated on the first day of the year on the modern

Tenpō calendar The , officially the Tenpō sexagenary unitary calendar (天保壬寅元暦 ''Tenpō jin'in genreki''), was a Japanese lunisolar calendar. It was published in the ''Tenpō'' era (1830–1844) and was in use during the late Edo period, from 1844 ...

, the last official lunisolar calendar which was used until 1872 in Japan.

History

Prior to the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the date of the Japanese New Year had been based on Japanese versions of lunisolar calendar (the last of which was the

) and, prior to

Jōkyō calendar The was a Japanese lunisolar calendar, in use from 1684 to 1753.Nussbaum"''Jōkyō-reki''"at p. 431"''Teikyō-reki''"at p. 431 It was officially adopted in 1685.Orchiston, Wayne ''et al.'' (2011)''Highlighting the History of Astronomy in the Asi ...

, the Chinese version. However, in 1873, five years after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

adopted the

and the first day of January became the official and cultural New Year's Day in Japan.

Traditional food

The Japanese eat a selection of dishes during the New Year celebration called , typically shortened to ''osechi.'' Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried, so they can keep without refrigeration: the culinary traditions date to a time before households had refrigerators and when most stores closed for the holidays. There are many variations of ''osechi'', and some foods eaten in one region are not eaten in other places (or are even considered inauspicious or banned) on New Year's Day. Another popular dish is , a soup with '' mochi'' rice cake and other ingredients, which differ in various regions of Japan. It is also very common to eat buckwheat noodles called

toshikoshi soba is a traditional Japanese noodle bowl dish eaten on ōmisoka (New Year's Eve, 31 December).Bill Daley"New Year's Eve noodles: A savory end to the old year" Chicago Tribune This custom lets go of hardship of the year because soba noodles are ea ...

ōmisoka —or —is a Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year. Traditionally, it was held on the final day of the 12th lunar month. With Japan's switch to using the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, December 31 ( ...

(

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

). Today,

sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stuck) ...

and sushi are often eaten, as well as non-Japanese foods. To let the overworked stomach rest, is prepared on the seventh day of January, a day known as .

Mochi

Another custom is to create and eat . Steamed is put into a wooden container and patted with water by one person while another person hits it with a large wooden mallet. Mashing the rice, it forms a sticky white

dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fi ...

. This is made before New Year's Day and eaten during the beginning of January. ''Mochi'' is made into a New Year's decoration called , formed from two round cakes of mochi with a placed on top. The name ''daidai'' is supposed to be auspicious since it means "several generations."

Bell ringing

At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples all over Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times ( ) to symbolize the 108 earthly temptations in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen. A major attraction is The Watched Night bell, in Tokyo. A traditional Japanese belief is that ringing bells can rid the sins of the passing year. The bell is rung 107 times on the 31st and once past midnight.

Nenga

The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest for Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of sending to their friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of sending

Christmas card A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during t ...

s. The original purpose was to give faraway friends and relatives tidings of oneself and one's immediate family— to tell those whom one did not often meet that he/she was alive and well. Sending these greetings is timed so they will arrive on January 1st. The post office guarantees delivery on that day if the cards are marked with the word ''nengajō'' and mailed between mid-December and a few days before year's end. To deliver them on time, the post office usually hires students part-time. It is customary to refrain from sending these postcards when there has been a

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

in the family during the year. In this case, a family member sends a simple to inform friends and relatives that they should not send New Year's cards, out of respect for the deceased. People get their ''nengajō'' from many sources. Stationers sell preprinted cards. Most of these have the Chinese zodiac sign of the New Year as their design, conventional greetings, or both. The Chinese zodiac has a cycle of 12 years. Each year is represented by an animal. The animals are, in order:

Rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

, Ox,

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

, Rooster,

Dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, and

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

. 2020 was the year of the Rat and the most recent start of the cycle. Famous characters like

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

, (2006) and other cartoon characters like Mickey and

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasionally w ...

, (2008) have been especially popular in their celebrated years. Addressing is generally done by hand, and is an opportunity to demonstrate one's handwriting (see '' shodō''). The postcards may have spaces for the sender to write a personal message. Blank cards are available, so people can hand-write or draw their own. Rubber stamps with conventional messages and with the annual animal are on sale at department stores and other outlets, and many people buy

ink brushes Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

for personal greetings. Special printing devices are popular, especially among people who practice crafts. Computer software also lets artists create and print their own designs. Very social individuals, who have hundreds of cards to write, may go to print shops and choose from a wide variety of cards prepared with short messages, so the sender only has to address them. Despite the omnipresence of email, the ''nengajō'' remains very popular, although the younger generation sends hardly any cards. They prefer to exchange digital greetings via mobile phones, and in recent years the wider society gradually has come to accept digital greetings. Conventional greetings include: * * * * * *

''Otoshidama''

On New Year's Day, Japanese people have a custom known as ' where adult relatives give money to children. It is handed out in small decorated envelopes called '' pochibukuro'', similar to

Shūgi-bukuro A is a special envelope in which money is given as a gift of celebration in Japan, especially at weddings or other auspicious occasions, such as a birth or celebrating a new home. The giver inserts the money into a on which they have written t ...

or Chinese hóngbāo and to the Scottish

handsel In Scotland, Handsel Monday or Hansel Monday is the first Monday of the year. Traditionally, gifts ( sco, Hansels) were given at this time. Among the rural population of Scotland, ''Auld Hansel Monday'', is traditionally celebrated on the first ...

. In the Edo period, large stores and wealthy families would give out a small bag of mochi and a Mandarin orange to spread happiness all around. The amount of money given depends on the age of the child but is usually the same if there is more than one child so that no one feels slighted. It is not uncommon for amounts greater than ¥5,000 (approximately US$50) to be given.

Poetry

The New Year traditions are also a part of

Japanese poetry Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in t ...

, including

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

(poems with 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven and five) and renga (linked poetry). All of the traditions above would be appropriate to include in haiku as '' kigo'' (season words). There are also haiku that celebrate many of the "first" of the New Year, such as the "first sun" (''hatsuhi'') or "first sunrise", "first

laughter Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...

" (''waraizome''—starting the New Year with a smile is considered a good sign), and first dream (''

hatsuyume In Japanese culture, a is the first dream one has in the new year. Traditionally, the contents of such a dream would foretell the luck of the dreamer in the ensuing year. In Japan, the night of December 31 was often passed without sleeping, so ...

''). Since the traditional New Year was later in the year than the current date, many of these mention the beginning of spring. Along with the New Year's Day postcard, haiku might mention "first letter" (''hatsudayori''—meaning the first exchange of letters), "first

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

" (''

kakizome ''Kakizome'' (, literally "first writing") is a Japanese term for the first calligraphy written at the beginning of a year, traditionally on January 2. Other terms include ''kissho'' (), ''shihitsu'' () and ''hatsusuzuri'' (). Traditionally ...

''), and "first brush" (''fude hajime'').

Takarabune

During the first three days of the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

the Seven Lucky Gods are said to pilot through the heavens to human ports on the ''

Takarabune In Japanese folklore, the ''Takarabune'' (), or "Treasure Ship", is a mythical ship piloted through the heavens by the Seven Lucky Gods during the first three days of the New Year. A picture of the ship forms an essential part of traditional J ...

'' or Treasure Ship. A picture of the ship forms an essential part of traditional Japanese New Year celebrations.

Games

It was also customary to play many New Year's games. These include ''

hanetsuki is a Japanese traditional game, similar to racket games like badminton but without a net, played with a rectangular wooden paddle called a ''hagoita'' and a brightly coloured shuttlecock, called a ''hane''. Often played by girls at the New Y ...

'', ''takoage'' (

kite flying A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face ...

), ''koma'' ( spinning top), ''

sugoroku (literally 'double six') refers to two different forms of a Japanese board game: ''ban-sugoroku'' (盤双六, 'board-sugoroku') which is similar to western tables games like Backgammon, and ''e-sugoroku'' (絵双六, 'picture-sugoroku') which is ...

'', ''

fukuwarai is a Japanese children's game popular at the Lunar New Year. Players are led to a table which has a paper drawing of a human face with no features depicted, and cutouts of several facial features (such as the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth). Wh ...

'' (whereby a blindfolded person places paper parts of a face, such as eyes, eyebrows, a nose and a mouth, on a paper face), and ''

karuta are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in C ...

'' (Japanese playing cards).

Entertainment

There are many shows created as the end-of-year, and beginning-of-year entertainment, and some being a special edition of the regular shows. For many decades, it has been customary to watch the TV show ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK netw ...

'' aired on NHK on New Year's Eve. The show features two teams, red and white, of popular music artists competing against each other.

Sport

The final of the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

, the national

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

elimination tournament in New Year's Day. The final has taken place on New Year's Day since 1969 and is usually aired on NHK.

Mixed martial arts in Japan Mixed martial arts has been legal in Japan since at least the 1980s, Pancrase began to be held. History Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan between American boxer Muhammad Ali and Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976. The ...

organizations such as Pride FC and Dream have held events on New Year's Eve and

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

has held New Year's Eve events since its founding in 2015.

Beethoven's Ninth

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and music ...

, with accompanying chorus, is traditionally performed throughout Japan during the New Year's season. In December 2009, for example, there were 55 performances of the symphony by various major orchestras and choirs in Japan. The Ninth was introduced to

Japan during World War I Japan participated in World War I from 1914 to 1918 in an alliance with Entente Powers and played an important role in securing the sea lanes in the West Pacific and Indian Oceans against the Imperial German Navy as a member of the Allies. Poli ...

by German prisoners held at the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp. Japanese orchestras, notably the

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra began as the ''New Symphony Orchestra'' o ...

, began performing the symphony in 1925. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Imperial government promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve, to encourage allegiance to Japanese nationalism. After the war, orchestras and choruses, undergoing economic hard times during the reconstruction of Japan, promoted performances of the piece around New Years because of the popularity of the music with the public. In the 1960s, performances of the symphony at New Years became more widespread, including participation by local choirs and orchestras, and established the tradition which continues to this day.Brasor, Philip,
Japan makes Beethoven's Ninth No. 1 for the holidays
, ''

Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', 24 December 2010, p. 20, retrieved on 24 December 2010.

Little New Year

There is also an associated festival of , traditionally celebrating the first full moon of the new year, on the 15th day of the first lunar month (approximately mid-February). This is now sometimes celebrated on January 15, in various respects. The main events of Koshōgatsu are rites and practices praying for a bountiful harvest; is traditionally eaten in the morning and is involved in the rice gruel divination ceremony. Further, New Year decorations are taken down around this date, and some temples hold events, such as at Tōrin-in. This corresponds to the Chinese Lantern Festival.

References

External links

* {{New Year by Calendar

January observances Postcards New Year celebrations Articles containing video clips Winter festivals in Japan Buddhist holidays