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 The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

at the beginning of the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, 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 feu ...

, it is now used on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

to celebrate the new year.

Origins

Etymology

The last day of each month of the Japanese

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...

was historically named . Originally, "miso" was written as 三十, indicating the 30th day, though ''misoka'' sometimes fell on the 29th due to the varying lengths of the lunar month. The last day in the 12th lunar month is called —with the 大 indicating it is the final last day of the month for that year—or the "great thirtieth day". As part of 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, Japan switched to the

in 1873, and ''ōmisoka'' was set as December 31, or

. The day is also known by the archaic pronunciation of . This is a shortened version of , meaning "last day of the month".

Activities

Traditionally, important activities for the concluding year and day were completed in order to start the new year fresh. Some of these include house cleaning, repaying debts, purification (such as driving out evil spirits and bad luck), and bathing so the final hours of the year could be spent relaxing. Recently, families and friends often gather for parties, including the viewing of the over four-hour on

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

, or more recently to watch large

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

cards. This custom has its roots in the ancient Japanese culture surrounding or , which revolved around the practice of showing reverence toward the gods of the current and upcoming years. About an hour before the New Year, people often gather together for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of ''

toshikoshi soba is a traditional Japanese noodle bowl dish eaten on ōmisoka (New Year's Eve, 31 December). This custom is intended to enable the household to let go of the year’s hardship because soba noodles are easily cut while eating. History The custom ...

'' or ''toshikoshi

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

'' together—a tradition based on people's association of eating the long noodles with "crossing over from one year to the next", which is the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. While the noodles are often eaten plain, or with chopped

scallion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

s, in some localities people top them with

tempura is a typical Japanese dish that usually consists of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep-fried. Tempura originated in the 16th century, when Portuguese Jesuits brought the Western-style cooking method of ...

. Traditionally, families make

osechi (御節料理, お節料理 or おせち) are traditional Japanese New Year foods. are easily recognizable by their special boxes called '' jūbako'' (重箱), which resemble '' bentō'' boxes. Like ''bentō'' boxes, ''jūbako'' are often ke ...

on the last few days of the year. The food is then consumed during the first several days of the new year in order to " elcomethe 'deity of the year' to each household" and "

ish Ish or ISH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''...ish'' (album), a 1989 album by the band 1927 * ''...ish'' (audio drama), a ''Doctor Who'' audio drama *''Ish'', a book by Peter H. Reynolds Businesses and organisations * International Sc ...

for happiness throughout the year". At midnight, many visit a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

for ''

Hatsumōde is one of the major Japanese traditions of the new year, which is the first visit to a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year. Typically taking place on the first, second, or third day of the year, it is meant to bring a ...

'', or the first shrine/temple visit of the year. Throughout Japan,

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

s prepare '' amazake'' to pass out to crowds that gather as midnight approaches. Most

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

s have a large

bonshō , also known as or are large bell (instrument), bells found in Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, are struck fr ...

(Buddhist bell) that is struck once for each of the 108 earthly temptations believed to cause human suffering. The bell ringing tradition is known as joya no kane (除夜の鐘). When seeing someone for the last time before the new year, it is traditional to say . The traditional first greeting after the beginning of the New Year is . This celebration is the equivalent of

in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

, and coincides with

Saint Sylvester's Day Saint Sylvester's Day, also known as Silvester or the Feast of Saint Sylvester, is the day of the feast of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope from 314 to 335. Medieval legend made him responsible for the conversion of emperor Consta ...

celebrated by some Western Christian churches.

References

External links

* *
Ushering in the New Year
Kids Web Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Omisoka Winter festivals in Japan December observances Buddhist holidays Buddhist festivals in Japan

Origins

Etymology

Activities

See also

References

External links