日本のお正月｜New Year in Japan

A New year 2024 has come!

Let’s learn about the New Year Holidays in Japan.

Please tell me about the New Year in your country too!

New Year Holidays in Japan is from January 1st to 3rd.

There are some regions (like Okinawa) celebrating New Year with the lunar calendar, but most regions celebrate it with the new calendar.

We have some specific terms for the New Year; “Sanga-nichi” is for January 1st to 3rd, and “Matsuno-uchi” is for January 1st to 7th.

Matsuno-uchi for most regions is until the 7th but the Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, etc.) region’s Matsuno-uchi is until the 15th.

New Year’s Eve is called “Oomisoka.”

Most people relax at home on Omisoka.

We used to call the whole of January “Shogatsu (New Year)” but now we call those only 3 days in the beginning “Sanga-nichi” Shogatsu.

As you can see the Kanji and its meaning, it is “New Year.”

We often use it for greetings.

We say the end of December “Nen-matsu.“

and often say “Mou Nenmatsu dane~. (It is already the end of the year.)” when the year is almost over.

We say the beginning of January “Nen-shi.”

This word is mostly used with the word “Nen-matsu”, and we ask questions like “Nenmatsu Nenshi wa, Doko ni Ikimasuka? (Where will you go on this New Year Holidays?)” and “Nenmatsu Nenshi Yasumi wa, Itsukara desuka? (When does your New Year Holidays start from?)”

These 2 phrases are often used as a set.

If you want to say something casual, we say “Akemashite Omedeto. Kotoshi mo Yoroshiku (ne)!”

And a more casual way is “Akeome! Kotoyoro!”

But this is a very casual phrase, so please use it to your close friends.

We have greetings to say in December.

If you see someone at the middle or the end of December and it is the last time to see them by the end of the year, you will use these phrases below.

“Kotoshi mo Taihen Osewa ni Narimashita.” is especially used for your boss, coworkers, or clients.

“Yoi Otoshi wo Omukae kudasai.” is a bit longer so we tend to say for short “Yoi Otoshi wo.”

I normally say “Yoi Otoshi wo! Mata Rainen~👋” if I greet my friends at the end of the year.

New Year Holidays for students and office workers usually start at the end of December after Christmas until around the 3rd (or 5th) of January.

But those who work in the service industry don’t get days off during the New Year Holidays since many customers are coming.

When is your New Year holiday?

We decorate many New Year’s decorations like we put a Christmas Tree and a Wreath on Christmas day.

Usually, we put them during Matsunouchi which is from January 1st to 7th for Toshigami-sama who brings the Happiness of the new year.

Let’s check what kind of decorations we have for New Year Holidays!

Kadomatsu is a New Year decoration to put outside the entrance to welcome Toshigami-sama.

It is made of pine trees, 3 bamboo, and plum all together.

Pine trees stay beautiful with their green even in winter and bamboo also has good meanings of “Choju (Living for long)” and “Hanei (Prosperity)” because they grow quickly.

Shime-Kazari is a New Year decoration that is made of straw.

Shrines also have the same decoration called “Shime-Nawa.”

Shime-Kazari protects a building from evil spirits just like Shime-Nawa at a Shrine does.

Kagami-mochi is a sacrificial offering to Toshigami-sama and is also a place where the Power of God dwells.

After the New Year Holidays are passed, we cook Mochi which has the power of God, and eat it. And this is called “Kagami-Biraki.”

We have some food for New Year, but we also eat “Toshikoshi(Year-crossing)-Soba” on New Year’s Eve.

Toshikoshi-Soba is also known as “Yakubarai(Spiritual Protection)-Soba.”

It means leaving everything that is bad and troubles behind at the end of the year and not carrying them over to the new year.

This is why we eat it before the new year comes on December 31st.

But there is no rule about when exactly to eat it. Some people eat it as lunch and some people eat it as dinner.

Toshikoshi-Soba also has meanings of “Choju Kigan(Wishing Longevity)”, “Kenko Kigan(Wishing Good Health)” and others.

Look it up for more details if you are interested!

There are some New Year’s Food too.

Let’s see what we eat and what they mean in each dish.

Osechi Dish is a sacrificial offering to Toshigami-sama and various dishes are in Juu-Bako (like a big bento box.)

It has some meanings such as “Gokoku-Houjo (Huge Harvest of the 5 Grains)”, “Shison-Hanei (Fertility and Family Prosperity)” and “Family Safety and Health.”

Inside the Juu-Bako, there are 20-30 dishes and they have a meaning for each.

However, there are too many of them so I will talk about them in a different article.

Ozouni is a soup with Mochi (rice cake) of Kagami-mochi.

Mochi which has the soul of Toshigami-sama will be shimmered with vegetables, chicken, fish, etc.

You will be blessed by eating Ozouni.

What do you eat on New Year Holidays in your country?

Please let me know in the comments!

We have several ways to say YEAR in Japanese.

“Seireki” is for the Gregorian Calendar like 2024, “Wareki” is for a Japanese Era Name like Reiwa 6, and we have “Eto” with animal zodiacs like Tatsu-doshi (the year of Dragon.)

The Eto is also called “Juuni-shi (12 animal zodiacs)” which shows each year with 12 animals in order.

There is a famous story about Juuni-shi.

Please check out this video! You can put English subtitles on.

By the way, the Eto (animal zodiac) of 2024 is “Tatsu-doshi (the year of Dragon).” 🐉

There are many cultures that you can only see in Japan.

Do you know them all? Let’s check them out together!

Going to a shrine to greet a God called Ujigami-sama is called “Hatsu-Moude.”

Therefore, many people go to a shrine during Sanga-nichi which is 1st-3rd of January.

And there are many other things you can do besides praying at a shrine.

If you go to a shrine visit on the New Year Holidays, we usually draw Omikuji to see our fortune of the year.

You can draw it for 100-200 yen and your fortune will be written on a paper strip.

The order of fortunes changes depending on shrines/temples, but the general order is like this;

Dai-Kichi (Great Blessing) > Kichi (Blessing) > Chu-Kichi (Middle Blessing) > Sho-Kichi (Small Blessing) > Sue-Kichi (Future Blessing) > Kyo (Bad Fortune) > Dai-Kyo (Great Bad Fortune)

Nowadays, you can draw Omikuji online, so try online if you cannot go to a shrine.

There are small pouches, paper strips, or cards that have prayers written on and they are called “Omamori.”

Omamori has variations such as “Study Improvement Omamori“, “Health Omamori“, etc.

<I always buy “Traffic/Driving Omamori” every year!>

Ema is wooden plaques to write a wish on.

We usually write our wish on it to deliver it to God, but you can also write your wish that has already come true to tell God about it.

And you will dedicate it to a shrine.

When December comes, we prepare for New Year’s greeting cards called “Nenga-jo.”

We send them to our family members, friends, coworkers, and bosses to be delivered on January 1st.

We often spend New Year Holidays with families and get to see many relatives, so adults give money to children. And this is “Otoshidama.”

They put the money around 1000 yen to 5000 yen into the bag called “Pochi-Bukuro.”

A lot of children are excited to get this Otoshidama because they could get a lot of money.

If you go to a department store or any other store, you will see the word “Hatsu-Uri.”

And it means “Selling for the first time of the year.”

During this season, bags called “Fuku-Bukuro” are sold that you would not know what is inside.

However, some bags reveal things inside these days. And Fuku-bukuro is on sale at affordable prices.

We have “Bonen-kai” (the end-of-the-year party) in December but also have “Shinnen-kai” when the new year comes.

With your coworkers and friends, you enjoy drinking and having good meals at Izakaya or someone’s house.

Here’s a quiz for the New Year Holidays in Japan.

Please answer these questions after reading this article!

How many of them will you get right?

Would you like to read the article again?

Let’s check some videos to see what a New Year in Japan is like!

There are some videos of people who experienced the New Year Holidays in Japan.

Have you experienced a New Year here in Japan?

New Year Holidays in Japan is the big event that we spend time with families together.

What do you eat and where do you go for New Year in your country?

Please let me know in the comment what differences you have compared to New Year in Japan!