New Year S Day Japan Traditions

Some of the traditions might sound weird especially to the non japanese but it s a good thing to know one or two important aspects of their traditions.
New year s day japan traditions. This annual tradition once required days of meticulous planning and preparation but luckily people can purchase premade o sechi in advance from department stores and restaurants. The first visit to a temple or shrine in a year is called hatsumoude. Japanese new year shogatsu or oshogatsu is the most important holiday in japan it s centered around food family preparing for the new year and leaving the prior year in the past.
The kadomatsu is a traditional decoration for the new year holiday. The traditional winter holiday for the japanese is oshogatsu literally first month or new year. In order to start off the new year with a fresh mind families and kids come together to clean up the entire house called osoji big cleaning and use the last few days of the old year to make preparations for osechi ryori see below special decorations and rituals for new year s day.
It s incredibly important to clean pay bills tie up any loose ends and prepare the traditional good luck food in advance of the celebration which lasts from january 1 3. With celebrations extending until january 3rd new year in japan is largely a quiet solemn family affair. Many well known temples and shrines are extremely crowded.
New year 正月 shōgatsu is the most important holiday in japan. As many people go back to their hometowns during this time it might be interesting for you to see usually busy and hectic tokyo suddenly become so. O sechi ryori is the new year s day feast.
Other traditional japanese new year dish ozoni. Shogatsu or also known as new year is an important day for the japanese. Since 1873 the official japanese new year has been celebrated according to the gregorian calendar on january 1 of each year new year s day 元日 ganjitsu.
In addition to money it is traditional for japanese people to visit a shrine or a temple during new year s holidays. Each element of the dinner is intended to invite luck prosperity and good health for the new year. People pray for safety health good fortune and so on.