Shogatsu, or New Year's holidays, are a special time for Japanese, who typically revisit and take part in long-standing traditions. It's a time when those who left their hometowns go back to visit their families, invite relatives and friends to their homes and wear ...
In Japanese, you can express your new year tidings in more ways than one
New Year's Day is a major holiday in Japan, but the date for it hasn't always been in January.
Celebrating New Year's the island way
On the small island where I live in the middle of Japan's Seto Inland Sea, new year celebrations are stalwart traditional. Preparations start a week before when the holiday spirit wafts in on sea breezes tinted with chilling temperatures. The island holds a community ...
Once a tradition firmly entrenched in the national consciousness, the nengajō (new year card) is facing extinction.
Don't go to the store, make your own New Year's feast instead
The style of osechi (New Year's food) that is popular today is an array of salty, sweet or sour foods made in advance to give the cook of the house a break during the New Year period.
Enthusiasm over new year cards wanes as online options grow
Once a tradition firmly entrenched in the national consciousness, the nengajō (new year cards) is facing extinction. If myriad media reports are to be believed, an increasing number of Japanese are deciding not to send any new year cards to family, friends or acquaintances. Online magazine ...
Counting down to the Year of the Boar: Festivals, foxes and fireworks welcome 2019 in Tokyo
With the end of the year drawing closer, the pressure is on to figure out how to greet the Year of the Boar. If the dwindling number of viewers staying in to watch NHK's annual music showcase "Kohaku Uta Gassen" is any indication, more ...
Traditional events to welcome Year of the Dog
For many city dwellers, the beginning of the year is a time to rest the body and the soul — be it at home or at an onsen (hot spring) resort — but for others, it's a perfect time to go out and enjoy ...
Japan was in a festive mood Monday to celebrate the new year as 2018 was greeted with sunrise viewing parties and crowd control.
On Sunday, people across Japan marked the passing of 2017 and the arrival of the new year at temples and shrines, both big and small. While the evening of oshōgatsu is celebrated in numerous ways, for many it is a time for spiritual purification and prayer ...
Here comes the sun: Recommended hatsuhinode spots
The first sunrise of the new year represents a chance for a new beginning and so it's hardly surprising that some once viewed the first rays of the sun on Jan. 1 with special reverence. It was believed to be the moment that Toshigami, ...
