Language | BILINGUAL Dec 25, 2017
The year-end flurry of mops and madness
Voices | OVERHEARD Dec 23, 2017
Enthusiasm over new year cards comes in many shapes and forms
"Do you have those ¥18 stamps to send New Year's postcards abroad?"
National | AT A GLANCE Jan 5, 2017
A new year, a new prayer, and hopefully luck
by Satoko Kawasaki
New Year's Day is not just the first day of the year in this country — it has a special meaning. Jan. 1 is when people invite a god into their homes — the Shinto deity that presides over safety and prosperity for the year ...
National Jan 1, 2017
2017 rings in across Japan as shrine, temple throngs pray for good year
As people across Japan celebrated the turn of the year, they flocked to shrines and temples Sunday morning for their traditional hatsumode pilgrimage to make a fresh start on New Year's Day. Meaning "the first prayer of the year," hatsumode witnesses hundred of thousands of ...
Events / Events In Tokyo | 2017 New Year Special Jan 1, 2017
Getting out to ring in the new year
by Mami Maruko
New Year's is one of the best times of the year when one can relax with family and friends. But for those who prefer to go out and enjoy the festive season, there are numerous exciting events going on. Here are some ways to ...
National | 2017 NEW YEAR SPECIAL Jan 1, 2017
New Year's, or shogatsu in Japan, is a time when people can get a taste of traditional Japan. People generally take the time around the New Year's holidays to relax with their families and engage in traditional activities to remind themselves of their heritage. Below ...
Food & Drink | NATURE'S PANTRY Dec 30, 2016
The flexibility of 'osechi ryori,' Japan's traditional New Year's food
by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
During the New Year's holidays, many Japanese eat osechi ryōri, a collection of traditional foods developed during the Heian Period (794-1185). It originally consisted of fish or vegetables simmered in soy sauce and sweet mirin but, as the years passed, other foods were incorporated ...
Lifestyle Dec 29, 2016
First sunrise of the year brings luck
by Yuki Yamauchi
The sight of a sunrise is familiar to early risers. On New Year's Day the experience takes on a more special meaning — legend has it the sun goddess Amaterasu created this country after all. So Jan. 1 is the one day that people who ...
National Dec 27, 2016
Japanese dream of long year-end holiday but will settle for five days, and some sleep
by Tomoko Otake
A long, leisurely sojourn at a tropical beach resort, listening to the waves and counting seagulls ... is only a pipe dream for most workers in Japan as the New Year's holiday period draws near. A recent survey by market research firm Macromill Inc. shows ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Dec 16, 2016
Sukiyaki, Japan's other New Year's meal
by Makiko Itoh
Late last December I went to a Tokyo branch of my favorite butcher shop, Ningyocho Imahan, to buy some meat to make a roast beef for my family's New Year's meal. When I arrived I was surprised to discover an hourlong wait to order. ...
National Nov 22, 2016
A rare selection of salted herring roe — a traditional Japanese New Year's dish said to bring good luck — has fetched a record price of more than ¥100,000 per kilogram at a wholesale market auction in the city of Osaka. The Osaka Municipal Wholesale ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Oct 14, 2016
'Kuri': The nutty staple of ancient Japan
by Makiko Itoh
Fresh chestnuts are one of the few things in Japan that are truly seasonal and not available year-round like so many other food products these days. Chestnuts (kuri in Japanese) have been consumed here since prehistoric times. Charred chestnuts that are more than 9,000 ...