Matto and I are having guests and having dinner at Coquette (http://www.coquette-nola.com/) on New Year’s Eve and then we will probably watch a countdown at Times Square, New York, on TV at home. I will write about our experience at Coquette later.
Today I would like to introduce how Japanese celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
In the U.S., New Year’s Eve is one of the big party days. People get together with friends and celebrate by the use of alcohol and fireworks.
On the other hand, New Year’s Day is the biggest family celebration day in Japan. As an example New Year’s Day in Japan is an equivalent to Thanksgiving or Christmas in the U.S.
When I was in Japan, I had never had a year that I didn’t spend time with my family on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
In Japan, most people get off from work for 6-8 days before and after New Year’s Day.
Kids generally get a 2-week winter break from December 26th to January 5th.
For the coming new year, our biggest job is to clean our whole house, known as “O-Soji”. We organize closet spaces in the entire house, clean the windows, power wash the outside of the house, wax the hard wood floors, clean the bathrooms, clean the kitchen etc…..Cleaning at this time of the year is really intense in Japan.
On New Year’s Eve we watch a traditional TV show at night, called Ko-haku Utagassen. Each TV station plays special New Year TV shows all night of New Year’s Eve and all day on New Year’s Day.
Traditional New Year’s Eve dinner is Soba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba), also known as Toshi Koshi Soba. There are several sayings for eating Soba on New Year’s Eve but in general we believe that eating Soba brings us happiness for the upcoming year.
Buddhist Temples ring their bells 108 times at midnight on New Year’s Eve. This tradition is called joya no kane which means "bell rings on new year eve's night”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Eve#Japan)
We would go to our temple, greet the monk, and participate in ringing bell at night.
Volunteers usually serve hot soup to guests who visit the temple.
We don’t participate in ringing the bell every year but I love the experience whenever I go.
http://honeypotter.wordpress.com/2011/02/page/2
After the countdown, my family would go to bed.
New Year’s morning, we would get up and eat breakfast. We eat Zoni (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zōni) as a traditional breakfast for the new year.
Zoni is a miso soup containing rice cakes (Mochi).
http://justjennrecipes.com/category/holiday/new-years-day/
On January 1st, we receive a lot of greeting cards from friends and family. These cards are called “Nenga jo” which are similar to Christmas cards here.
After breakfast, we would first go to a shrine in our neighborhood. Each neighborhood has a shrine and we believe that it protects our house and family. So we go there to pray for our happiness in the New Year.
And then we would visit our temple to give the monk a New Year’s greeting.
Next we would go to my paternal grandparents’ house and see our relatives for lunch.
Each dish in the container (called Jyu-Bako) has a special meaning to celebrate the New Year.
Here are some examples… (refered from Wikipedia)
▪ Daidai (橙), Japanese bitter orange. Daidai means "from generation to generation" when written in different kanji as 代々. Like kazunoko below, it symbolizes a wish for children in the New Year.
▪ Datemaki (伊達巻 or 伊達巻き), sweet rolled omelette mixed with fish paste or mashed shrimp. This symbolizes a wish for many auspicious days. On auspicious days (晴れの日, hare-no-hi), Japanese people traditionally wear fine clothing as a part of enjoying themselves. One of the meanings associated with the second kanji includes "fashionability," derived from the illustrious dress of the samurai from Date Han.
▪ Kamaboko (蒲鉾), broiled fish cake. Traditionally, slices of red and white kamaboko are alternated in rows or arranged in a pattern. The color and shape are reminiscent of Japan rising sun, and have a celebratory, festive meaning.
▪ Kazunoko (数の子), herring roe. Kazu means "number" and ko means "child." It symbolizes a wish to be gifted with numerous children in the New Year.
▪ Kuro-mame (黒豆), black soybeans. Mame also means "health," symbolizing a wish for health in the New Year.
▪ Kohaku-namasu (紅白なます), literally "red-white vegetable kuai," is made of daikon and carrot cut into thin strips and pickled in sweetened vinegar with yuzu flavor.
▪ Tai (鯛), red sea-bream. Tai is associated with the Japanese word medetai, symbolizing an auspicious event.
▪ Tazukuri (田作り), dried sardines cooked in soy sauce. The literal meaning of the kanji in tazukuri is "rice paddy maker," as the fish were used historically to fertilize rice fields. The symbolism is of an abundant harvest.
▪ Zōni (雑煮), a soup of mochi rice cakes in clear broth (in eastern Japan) or miso broth (in western Japan).
▪ Ebi (エビ), skewered prawns cooked with sake and soy sauce.
▪ Nishiki tamago (錦卵), egg roulade; the egg is separated before cooking, yellow symbolizing gold, and white symbolizing silver.
We eat and talk just like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the U.S.
One different thing from these American holidays is that only kids get special gifts from adults.
Kids normally get money from relatives as New Year gifts, called Otoshidama.
It is handed out in a special envelop called “Pochi Bukuro”.
The amount of money varies depending on the family, normally 3,000-10,000 yen ($38-$129).
When kids are small, parents usually open a bank account under kids’ name and save the Otoshidama each year for their future needs.
I used to receive Otoshidama from my relatives until I graduated from college. I saved most of my Otoshidama since I was 0 year old and used the money to come to the U.S. to attend graduate school.
In the afternoon my family would next go to my maternal grandparents’ house for dinner.
My father’s and mother’s relatives live in the same city, so it is pretty busy for our family to visit both of families on the same day during a holiday season.
That’s our family tradition for New Year’s Day.
And then January 2nd is the biggest shopping day in Japan just like Black Friday in the U.S.
New Year’s Day used to be my favorite national holiday when I was in Japan. One day I will take Matto to Japan for a New Year season!!!
