Like Christmas, New Year's is a big holiday in Japan. Actually, it's probably more important culturally than Christmas! Below I have outlined some important Japanese traditions and symbols of the New Year.
Kadomatsu
The start of the new year is a spiritual time for Japan and her people. It is when New Year’s gods are said to descend from the heavens and exist in the earthly realm. In order to guide the gods toward them, many households, businesses, and sacred sites put up pine and bamboo decorations known as kadomatsu on either side of entranceways. They may also only have one within their entrance.The decorations, with multi-tiered bamboo shoots, are supposed to represent heaven, earth and humanity. They are believed to attract the gods and draw in lucky spirits. The gods dwell in the pine until January 7th, after which time the decorations are taken to a shrine to be burnt, releasing the spirits back to their realm.
Shime-Kazari
These are hung in doorways or entraces. They are made of rice straw ropes and carefully crafted zigzag-shaped paper strips called shide. On the porch or the entrance door it is placed the shimekazari, a small rope made from rice straws, with carefully crafted zigzag-shaped paper strips called shide. The shime-kazari are designed to keep the bad spirits from entering homes and shrines.Kagami-Mochi
The New Year’s rice cake is another festive item said to contain the spirit of the gods. Its round shape is a homage to one of the holiest items in all of Japan, the mirror of the sun goddess Amaterasu. This mirror is part of the Three Sacred Treasures of the imperial regalia of Japan and the Emperor. The other two are the sword Kusanagi and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama.
They all represent the three primary virtues: valor (sword), wisdom (mirror), and benevolence (jewel). According to Japanese mythology, the earth went dark when Amaterasu retreated from the world and hid in a cave. The sun goddess was eventually drawn out from the cave with the use of a mirror that attracted her with the beauty of her own reflection, which she had never before seen, ultimately bringing light back into the world. With its rounded, mirror-like shape, kagami-mochi symbolizes the renewal of light and energy present at the start of a New Year.
Historically,
a bitter orange (daidai) is placed on top of the two mochi because they are
considered auspicious, as the meaning of the word can be translated to
"generation after generation", representing the family's wish for a
long, prosperous bloodline. However, because the fruit is quite large and
bitter, the more appetizing and proportionally pleasing clementine (mikan) is
more widely used. Not everybody makes these and stores actually sell small,
plastic versions for those of us in small apartments that don't know how to
make our own!
Joya no Kane
At midnight on December 31st, Buddhist temples all over Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in the Buddhist belief. It is also to get rid of the 108 worldly desires. The bell is rung 107 times onDecember 31st and 1 time past midnihgt on the first day of the new year.
Hatsumode (初詣)
This is the first visit to a shrine of the New Year. People often pray for good health, luck, and longevity during this visit. A few of my friends and I went to hatsumode at our volcano's shrine! Iwaki shrine is beautiful any time of year but it was magical with the snow and new years festivities. This is the entrance to Iwaki shrine. You can see the tarped stalls set up to sell food! --->
<---This is just past all the stalls heading up towards the shrine itself. The trees were absolutely beautiful!
Omamori
Omamori are good luck charms consisting of a piece of paper, wood, or cloth in a small cloth pouch. They are kept as protection from illness, accidents, or disaster/evil spirits. You can always buy these at shrines and now they have omamori for things such as success, money, love, and happiness for example.
Omikuji
Omikuji are fortunes written on slips of paper. People burn them at shrines and, occasionally, temples. They also tie them to branches of nearby trees in hopes that good fortune will come true or bad forture will be kept away. These are also usually available at shrines all the time but on new years they pull out all the special ones in many varieties! I was able to make a small offering and get an omikuji specifically for my day of birth!Mine said: "Your personality is independent and hardworking. You have the ability to take advantage of every opportunity and you are very adaptive. You can do things at your own pace and can remain calm and reflect to use your good common sense. Always reflect on and nurture sympathy and never make enemies. Keep in mind that you need to save money (massive callout, thanks omikuji). If you work hard, you will be able to gain happiness." The one below is not mine but you'll understand what they look like.
Ema (絵馬）
Ema are small wooden plaques with pictures on which people can write their prayers or wishes. These are left hanging up at the shrine, where the Gods are believed to receive them. I've put the kanji for this particular piece because I find it interesting. It means "wooden horse". This name comes from a historical event too, so it isn't just random! In ancient times, people would donate a horse to the shrines for good luck/favor. Over time, this was transferred to the current wooden plaque with a picture of a horse (now there are just many different pictures). So they because a kind of stand in for a real horse, thus being named a "wooden horse".
Spiced Sake
A special spiced sake is traditionally served on New Year’s Day, especially at shrines. It is known as O-toso and, with the help of the medicinal herbs used in it, tt is said to expel last year’s bad luck and help with health and longevity in the New Year. It is said to assist in digestion and protect against colds (too bad it's not legal for minors because my kids really could have used some of that luck in December! Flu. Flu everywhere!). This sake is served from a lacquered pot and poured into three, different-sized drinking cups. You sip from smallest to largest. Guests at shrines are offered this drink too and I didn't get the chance to try it unfortunately.Nengajou
Nengajou are Japanese New Year post cards, kind of similar to the tradition of Christmas cards. These are sent out to family and friends every year with the intent to reach them before or on the first day of the new year. Many nengajou often depict the zodiac animal of the coming new year. This year is the year of the Rat so there were/are many adorable rat related nengajou like this one!
Though you can buy nengajou like this one in stores with preprinted messages (this eliminates the need to do anything other than sign if you have a lot of cards to send), many people have their nengajou custom made! As a relatively new foreigner, I did not expect to receive any nengajou, since my coworkers don't know me as well as they know each other. However, I did get one in the mail! It was from a math teacher I sit next to at my school. Her son, who si close to my age, studies English and was in the process of preparing to move to Austrailia to work and go to school to study further. She invited me to dinner with them one evening so he could speak with a native speaker and her nengajou (custom made) had a small message of thanks to me. It was very sweet and I was really happy!
As you can see, Japan has many different and interesting New Years traditions! I was excited to be able to be here during an important time of the year and I am looking forward to spending more time in this beautiful country. Happy New Year everyone! I hope your new year is starting off on the right foot and that you find these Japanese traditions as interesting as I do!
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