Take part in tradition at Futaba
While many osechi ryōri (traditional New Year's dishes) are not exactly adored by a lot of people, there is one simple meal that seems universally loved: toshikoshi soba. Awkwardly translated to "year-crossing soba," the toshikoshi variety is eaten at family dinners when the new year ...
Train stations and airports jammed as New Year's exodus begins
New Year's travelers pack planes, trains and automobiles to take advantage of a long string of year-end holidays that will take them into 2015.
Digital tack taken to revive interest in New Year's cards
The tradition of sending "nengajo," or New Year's postcards, has been in decline as people turn to the Internet, social networking and digital gadgets like smartphones instead of putting pen to paper. Japan Post Co., the postal arm of government-owned Japan Post Holdings Co., is ...
Navigating Japan with a family at New Year's
Let's be honest. We're adults. New Year's in Japan can be a bit hectic. And then static. It's one of the longest, if not the longest, holiday periods in the year. Initially it feels like the whole country is on the move before the onset ...
Ring in the new year with refinement
The quintessential washoku, or traditional Japanese cuisine dish, is nimono — vegetables and other ingredients simmered in a broth of dashi stock, sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce or miso. Nimono can be made in advance and served warm or cold, saving the cook ...
Tokyo department stores to target foreign tourists with lucky bags this New Year
Are you feeling lucky? That's a question foreign tourists will be asked this New Year as department stores invite them to follow the Japanese tradition of buying a sealed bag of goodies. "A big theme of next year's lucky bags is 'Discovery Japan.' We want not ...
Wearing kimono, getting together with family and friends, and not working for the first three days of a new year. Shogatsu, or New Year's, is when Japanese generally work less than the rest of the world. It is also the time to follow long-standing traditions ...
Blending old and new for New Year's
Thanks to the calendar this year, many people can have a long holiday, so many will be heading out of Tokyo on vacation. But if you're staying in the capital, there will be enough events at the beginning of the year to get you ...
Thousands make the annual "hatsumode" trip to shrines and temples nationwide to give offerings and pray for good fortune in the new year.
Tokyo police say they will restrict public access around the main intersection outside Shibuya Station between 10 p.m. Dec. 31 and 2 a.m. Jan. 1 to prevent a crush of New Year's revelers forming for the countdown, a recurrent problem in recent years. The Metropolitan ...
Do New Year's the right way this time
With the yearend rush fast approaching, Dave has a very timely question about Japanese New Year cards: "I'm not a Christmas card kind of guy and last year was no exception. However, at New Year's I got a bunch of postcards from friends and coworkers ...
Today's J-blip: Kasō Taishō's YouTube channel
Give it up for oshogatsu's amateur hour and the common (creative) man.
