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May 02, 2024
 

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O SHOGATSU

Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jan 1, 2017
Getting out to ring in the new year
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 spend quality time in Tokyo during the New Year's holidays.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 2017 NEW YEAR SPECIAL
Jan 1, 2017
A celebration of Japanese traditions
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2016
The flexibility of 'osechi ryori,' Japan's traditional New Year's food
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 into the compendium of dishes, including those that had symbolic significance for health, longevity, fertility and good fortune.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 29, 2016
First sunrise of the year brings luck
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2016
Japanese dream of long year-end holiday but will settle for five days, and some sleep
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Dec 16, 2016
Sukiyaki, Japan's other New Year's meal
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. The crowd outside had lined up to buy Imahan's exceptional (and expensive) beef, not for roasting, but for sukiyaki.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2016
New Year's salted herring roe sells for record ¥100,000
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Oct 14, 2016
'Kuri': The nutty staple of ancient Japan
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 years old have been found in and around the archaeological sites of Jomon Period (10,000-200 B.C.) settlements.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2016
Holiday over as first workweek of 2016 begins
People who returned to big cities began their first day of work Monday after spending the New Year's holidays overseas or at their family homes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 2, 2016
House of cards: Can traditional New Year’s greetings survive in modern times?
On Jan. 1, legions of Japan Post Co. employees delivered millions of nengajō (New Year's cards) to homes nationwide.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 2, 2016
Postal workers nationwide do whatever it takes to deliver New Year's greetings on time
Waking up on Jan. 1 is a little like waking up on Christmas morning — there's a palpable sense of excitement in the air as you reach into your post box to discover who has (and who hasn't) sent you a New Year's card.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2016
Spirits and turnout high as New Year's crowds throng to shrines and temples
People wishing to make a fresh start on New Year's flocked to major shrines and temples across the archipelago Friday morning in the annual ritual known as hatsumode (first visit of the year).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2016
Emperor speaks of 'pain' over Tohoku evacuees still living in temporary homes
Emperor Akihito on Friday expressed his hope for the reconstruction of Tohoku as 2016 marks five years since a massive earthquake and tsunami wrecked towns, villages and farmland across the region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 24, 2015
Meiji Shrine: grounds to ring in the year
As a relatively new place of worship, established less than a century ago in 1920, Meiji Shrine was originally based around the concept of wakonyu014dsai — a belief that treasured the Japanese 'soul,' while still embracing influences from the West. Its unusual omikuji, therefore, is not the only unique feature of the shrine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 24, 2015
Getting the year's first prayer in
Whether we are Buddhists, followers of Shintoism or atheists, the first thing many Japanese do on ganjitsu (New Year's Day) is go to their local shrine or temple for hatsumōde, a symbolic first visit of the year. If it's not done on Jan. 1, it will likely happen shortly after.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2015
Staying up all night to get lucky (bags)
New Year's in Japan means fukubukuro (literally, 'lucky bags'). In a tradition kickstarted by the Matsuya Department Store almost 100 years ago, retail outlets offer mystery grab bags to the shoppers who are willing to buy blindly in hopes of scoring a bargain.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2015
Imperial Couple release 'waka' poems to mark New Year's Day
The Imperial Household Agency released on Thursday several 31-syllable "waka" poems written by the Imperial Couple in 2014 to celebrate New Year's Day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2015
New Year's shrine visits and countdown vigils a lesson in crowd control
People who couldn't wait to make their wishes for New Year's flocked to shrines, temples and other landmarks nationwide early Thursday morning, and some mishaps were reported amid the day's festivities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2014
New Year's exodus reaches peak
The New Year's holiday exodus from Tokyo and other urban areas peaked Tuesday, with travelers packing major train stations and airports throughout the day.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NAGOYA RESTAURANTS
Dec 30, 2014
Head to a temple for a New Year's meal
Although there are countless places to visit on New Year's Eve, one of the liveliest is Osu Kannon, a temple that is busy most days of the year and packed to the brim during the holidays.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.

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