Japanese New Year

How is New Year celebrated in Japan? Japanese New Year celebration called "shogatsu" takes place from January 1-3. New Year's Day on January 1 is called "gantan" and is a Japanese national holiday. It's the most important holiday in Japan.

Japanese people eat special dishes called osechi ryori during shogatsu. Osechi ryouri is packed in a Jubako box, which has several layers. The foods are colorful and artistically presented. Each dish has a particular meaning. For example, prawns for long life, kuromame (sweet black beans) for health, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (teriyaki taste small sardines) for a good harvest, kurikinton (sweet chestnuts and mashed sweet potato) for happiness, and so on. It is also traditional to eat mochi (rice cake) dishes during New Year's holidays. Zouni (rice cake soup) is the most popular mochi dish. The ingredients vary depending on regions and families. If you are lucky, you can taste many different zouni in Japan.

It's a Japanese tradition to eat osechi-ryori throughout the New Year's holidays (until Jan. 3.) Traditionally, people finish cooking osechi dishes by New Year's Eve so that they have food for a couple days without cooking. Most of the dishes can last a couple days in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature.

People usually spend New Year's holidays quietly at home eating various food. There is a custom of giving money to children during New Year's holidays in Japan. It's called "otoshidama." If you are going to family gatherings, it's good to prepare some money in small envelopes.

It is traditional for Japanese people to visit to a shrine or a temple during New Year's holidays. People pray for safety, health and good fortune. The first visit to a temple or shrine in a year is called "hatsumoude." It is not a very religious event but rather a custom. Many well-known temples and shrines are extremely crowded.