Japanese New Year Customs
These traditional decorations, made of bamboo and pine, are placed at the entrances of homes and businesses during the New Year to invite ancestral spirits and deities for a prosperous year ahead.
What is Kadomatsu?
This term refers to the morning of January 1st in Japan, traditionally celebrated as New Year's Day, and is often associated with various customs and rituals welcoming the new year.
What is Gantan?
This traditional practice involves drawing a fortune slip at Shinto shrines. The predictions can range from great luck to misfortune, and if the fortune is unfavourable, it is often tied to a tree or structure to ward off bad luck.
What is Omikuji?
A Shinto god who visits every house on New Year's to give good luck and happiness.
What is Toshigami-Sama?
This period in Japan was influential in helping to spread new customs which became widespread traditions.
What is Edo period?
This year-end celebration in Japan, translating to "forget the year party," involves gatherings among friends and colleagues to drink, eat, and reflect on the past year before welcoming the new one.
What is Bonenkai?
This term refers to the Japanese New Year celebration, which lasts from January 1 to January 3. It features traditional customs such as house cleaning, special foods like osechi, and the first shrine visit of the year, known as hatsumode.
What is Oshogatsu/Shogatsu?
These small, colourful amulets sold at shrines are believed to provide protection and good luck, with different types available for various purposes such as health, success, and safe travels.
What is Omamori?
This natural phenomenon is associated with the changing of years in Japanese tradition, and it reflects the connections of Toshigami-sama, the deity of New Year's.
What is time?
Decorations, made of pine and bamboo, are placed at entrances that serve as something to the God of New Year's.
What are landmarks?
This traditional Japanese practice involves the first visit of the year to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, where people pray for good fortune and health, typically occurring from midnight on January 1st to January 3rd.
What is Hatsumode?
During Oshogatsu, families typically gather for a few days to celebrate, during which many businesses shut down from January 1 to this date.
What is January 3?
During Hatsumode, visitors typically perform this purification ritual at a fountain before praying at the shrine.
What is Temizu?
This traditional practice involves thoroughly cleaning the house in preparation for the arrival of the New Year's deity and is also known by another name.
What is Osouji?
Special New Year's food is prepared in lacquered boxes where each dish represents a different well-beings.
What is prosperity, health and fertility?
This ritual, celebrated on New Year's Eve, involves ringing a temple bell 108 times to symbolize the purification of the 108 worldly desires, marking the transition from the old year to the new.
What is Joya no Kane?
On New Year's Eve, it is customary in Japan to eat this type of noodle, symbolizing longevity, before the year ends.
What is Toshikoshi Soba?
At many shrines during Hatsumode, worshipers make a monetary offering in a wooden box known as this.
What is Saisen?
Before being known as the God of New Year's, Toshigami-sama was prayed to for blessings such as having a good harvest.
What is god of grain?
This tradition is where the first writing of the year represents personal resolutions and intentions and the type of writing can also be considered an art form.
What is Kakizome?
This traditional Japanese dish is often served during the New Year, consists of various foods arranged in layered boxes called jūbako and symbolizes prosperity and good fortune for the coming year.
What is Osechi Ryori?
Before adopting the Gregorian calendar, Japan celebrated New Year's based on this type of calendar that aligns with lunar cycles.
What is the lunisolar calendar?
This famous shrine in Tokyo is known for attracting millions of visitors during Hatsumode, making it the busiest shrine in Japan.
What is Meiji Jingu?
This traditional pilgrimage involves visiting shrines dedicated to the Seven Lucky Gods, where participants collect stamps for blessings throughout the year. The Seven Lucky Gods originate from Shinto, Hinduism, and which other belief system?
What is Budhhism?
Japanese New Year's celebrations underwent another significant change where traditional customs had blended in with more western cultures to form a more modern form of New Year's celebrations in this period.
What is Meiji Period?