CHOPSTICKS NEW YORK

Welcoming the New Year is the most important holiday activity for Japanese people. In order to celebrate the New Year in a fresh mood, people clean their houses, settle unfinished business, and tie up any other loose ends. At the same time, people are busy decorating their homes and cooking special food in preparation for the New Year’s celebration. So, technically, New Year’s Eve is the busiest day of the year for Japanese people. Once everything is done, they listen to Joya-no-kane (the watch-night bell) at midnight and welcome the New Year quietly.

Although the custom of celebrating the arrival of the New Year in Japan has been around for a long, long time, Japanese people started celebrating January 1st as New Year’s Day only about 130 years ago, when Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar after the Meiji Restoration.

People usually spend the early morning of New Year’s Day with family, eating Osechi Ryouri, a special celebration food, and drinking O-toso, a special sake with herbs. People receive Nenga-Jo, New Year’s postcards, and kids are given Otoshidama, celebration money. Recently, people have even started shopping on the morning of New Year’s Day. The New Year holiday is actually one of the most productive periods for retail stores.

Key words to understand Japanese New Year

Kadomatsu / Shimekazari / Kagamimochi

These are the basic New Year’s decorations. Kadomatsu, a pine tree decoration, is placed on the gate or entrance of a house to welcome Toshigamisama, the deity of the coming year. Shimekazari, a rope made of rice straw, serves to delineate a sacred area. Japanese pound rice in late December to make Kagamimochi, round rice cakes to offer to the deity.

*Most of the grocery stores in New York area carry Japanese New Year’s decorations. Please see the list of grocery stores on page 16.

Nenga-Jo

Japanese customarily send New Year’s Day postcards, Nenga-Jo, to their friends and relatives. This is similar to the Western custom during the Christmas holiday. In Japan, however, it is important that Nenga-Jo are delivered on January 1st. People use specific kinds of postcards or write “nenga” on the front so that Japan Post’s officers can separate them from regular postcards and deliver them on January 1st. Japan Post guarantees to deliver Nenga-Jo on the first of January if they are posted within a certain time limit, usually around mid-December. Since New Year’s Day is the busiest day for Japan Post, it hires part-time workers to help deliver Nenga-Jo. Although E-cards are becoming increasingly popular, Japanese people still keep this custom of sending their New Year’s greetings via snail mail.

“Akemashite OmedetoU (Gozaimasu)”

When Japanese people welcome the New Year, they use these celebratory words. It literally means “Happiness to you on the dawn.” This phrase is often used in the greetings of Nenga-Jo. If you want to be more polite, add “gozaimasu” at the end. Nowadays, younger people tend to use the shortened, more casual “Ake-Ome.

HatsumoUde

This is the first shrine visit of the New Year. Many people take part in Hatsumode during Sanganichi (the first three days of the New Year). People pray for their health and luck and buy Omamori (good-luck-charms), Hamaya (charm arrows), Kazaguruma (pinwheels), and Kumade (charm rakes). The most popular shrines in Japan are Meiji Jingu in Tokyo, Naritasan-Shinshoji in Chiba, Kawasaki-Daishi in Kanagawa, and Fushimi-Inari-Taisha in Kyoto. Each of them has almost 3 million visitors during the New Year’s holiday.

Otoshidama

This is what young kids crave during the New Year’s holiday. In Japan, people have a custom of giving pocket money to children during this period. The amount varies depending on the family and the age of the child. Otoshidama is handed out in a small envelope called a “pochibukuro.”

Kakizome

Kakizome is the first calligraphy of the year. Traditionally, people write lucky words or poems. It is not common to do this at home, but schools often have a Kakizome contest.

Hatsuyume

In Japan, it is believed that the first dream you have in the new year foretells the luck you will have in the ensuing year. People don’t consider the night from December 31st to January 1st as the first night but rather the night from January 1st to the 2nd. It is considered to be particularly auspicious to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, or an eggplant.

O-ZoUni

This soup meal is eaten during the New Year’s holiday along with the traditional Osechi Ryouri (see details in the box above). It usually contains mochi (rice cake) and vegetables. There are millions of styles from region to region and family to family. Some people use clear soup, others use miso soup. Some use round mochi, others use rectangular mochi.

OSECHI RYOURI

It is a Japanese tradition to eat Osechi Ryouri throughout the New Year’s holiday (until January 3rd). Osechi Ryouri is traditionally served in layers of lacquer boxes, Jubako, to bring “layers of luck.” The dishes include Kobumaki (Kelp Rolls), Kuromame (Simmered Black Beans), Datemaki (Rolled Sweet Omelet), Kurikinton (Mashed Sweet Potato with Sweet Chestnuts), Kinpira Gobo (Braised Burdock), Tazukuri (Candied Dried Sardines), Namasu (Pickled Daikon Radish and Carrot), Nimono (Simmered Vegetables), Kazunoko (Herring Roe), Ebi-no-saka-mushi (Sake Steamed Shrimp), Pink and White Kamaboko (Fish Cake), and Tai-no-shio-yaki (Grilled Sea Bream). Each dish in Osechi has a symbolic meaning; the dishes usually promote good health, fertility, longevity, good harvest, or happiness. People are supposed to finish cooking Osechi dishes by New Year’s Eve so that they can spend the New Year’s holiday without cooking. The taste of the dishes is usually strong--sweet, sour, salty, or dried--because they have to keep for several days. These days, people are more conscious of using time efficiently, so they tend to buy ready-made Osechi dishes available at stores and restaurants in Japan. People also do not really follow the strict rules of Osechi as much as they once did but rather create their own ways of preparing and enjoying the foods of the New Year.

Eto

consists of Jikkan (10 symbols) and Juunishi (12 symbols for the 12 zodiac signs), and it is used for indicating the year, month, and date. It is said that the prototype of this calendar was created in China in the age of Yin (B.C.1400), and Japan adopted the calendar about 1300 years ago. One of the 12 Chinese zodiac symbols, represented by different animals, is applied to each year. Although this type of calendar is obsolete in Japan, Juunishi emerge in December and January because Japanese people often draw the symbol on Nenga-Jo, the New Year’s postcards.The eto animal for year 2009 is the cow.