Japanese Culture & Traditions

Thank for your interest in Japanese Culture & Traditions. Have you visited my other pages, such as Introducing Mary Ohno, Kabuki Academy, and Japanese Language?

On this page, I would like to introduce you to timely Japanese culture and/or traditional events. Almost every month we Japanese have an event to celebrate and I'm positive that you want to know what it is all about. You can visit this page every month and find it out.

The topic of January 2009 is The New Year's Day "O-SHOOGATSU".

"January the first" is called "Ganjitsu" or "Gantan", the day on which the birth of the new year is celebrated. Nobody works on the first three days of the new year, the period called "san-ga-nichi" or "shoogatsu". Shoogatsu originally referred to the whole of January, but now is used just to refer to these three days. On these days, the people go to shrines, visit friends and relatives, drink sake and eat special new-year dishes, called "osechi". Children play "karuta" (Japanese card games), spinning "koma" (a top), flying "tako" (a kite) and play "hane-tsuki" (battledore and shuttlecock). "Kado-matsu"( a pair of the New Year's pine decorations are decorated in front of the gate which symbolizes a tree provided for the descent of the gods.

Traditional Japanese style New Year's celebration is where all members of the family sit together and start New Year's breakfast beginning with a toast and sipping "o-toso" (spiced sake). "Zooni" (rice cakes boiled with vegetables) are what characterize the main breakfast taken on the morning of the New Year's Day (Jan. 1st, 2nd & 3rd). Every family or every region has it's own style zooni, such as clear soup or bean soup, putting various kinds of vegetables, chicken, fish or clams in the soup with round or square "mochi" (rice cake).

Quite a few people make New Year's Resolutions on January the 1st, as the proverb says, "The plan should be made on the New Year's Day". They also put some money offering "sai-sen" into an offeratory chest at the shrine and pray for good health, happiness and prosperity or even make a pledge to start doing something or quit doing something, starting "this year".

On January 7, some people eat rice porridge with seven kinds of spring herbs "nana-kusa gayu" which was believed in ancient times to be capable of preventing and curing every known disease. The custom which marks the end of shogatsu is the cutting and eating of the "kagami-mochi" New Year's rice cakes offered on the household altar. On January 11, those round mirror-shaped rice cakes are cut or broken to pieces, toasted, put into heated sweet red-bean soup "o-shiruko" and then eaten by the whole family.

2009 is in the year of "Ox" (USHI) among of the twelve symbols of the Chinese zodiac. Those who were born in the year of ox are 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 and 2009. Ox people represent a sign of prosperity and are born leaders who inspire others. They are stuborn and strong minded individuals who do not like to told what to do. Ox people speak little, but when they do speak, they are articulate and eloquent.

If you have any comments or question about Japanese New Year's Day, please send e-mail .

Wishing the year 2009 will turn out to be a happier and more peaceful year to you and the world.

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