Template:Short description Template:For Template:More citations needed {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#switch:January 1|January 1|January 2|January 3|January 4|January 5|January 6|January 7|January 8|January 9|January 10|January 11|January 12|January 13|January 14|January 15|January 16|January 17|January 18|January 19|January 20|January 21|January 22|January 23|January 24|January 25|January 26|January 27|January 28|January 29|January 30|January 31|February 1|February 2|February 3|February 4|February 5|February 6|February 7|February 8|February 9|February 10|February 11|February 12|February 13|February 14|February 15|February 16|February 17|February 18|February 19|February 20|February 21|February 22|February 23|February 24|February 25|February 26|February 27|February 28|February 29|February 30|February 31|March 1|March 2|March 3|March 4|March 5|March 6|March 7|March 8|March 9|March 10|March 11|March 12|March 13|March 14|March 15|March 16|March 17|March 18|March 19|March 20|March 21|March 22|March 23|March 24|March 25|March 26|March 27|March 28|March 29|March 30|March 31|April 1|April 2|April 3|April 4|April 5|April 6|April 7|April 8|April 9|April 10|April 11|April 12|April 13|April 14|April 15|April 16|April 17|April 18|April 19|April 20|April 21|April 22|April 23|April 24|April 25|April 26|April 27|April 28|April 29|April 30|April 31|May 1|May 2|May 3|May 4|May 5|May 6|May 7|May 8|May 9|May 10|May 11|May 12|May 13|May 14|May 15|May 16|May 17|May 18|May 19|May 20|May 21|May 22|May 23|May 24|May 25|May 26|May 27|May 28|May 29|May 30|May 31|June 1|June 2|June 3|June 4|June 5|June 6|June 7|June 8|June 9|June 10|June 11|June 12|June 13|June 14|June 15|June 16|June 17|June 18|June 19|June 20|June 21|June 22|June 23|June 24|June 25|June 26|June 27|June 28|June 29|June 30|June 31|July 1|July 2|July 3|July 4|July 5|July 6|July 7|July 8|July 9|July 10|July 11|July 12|July 13|July 14|July 15|July 16|July 17|July 18|July 19|July 20|July 21|July 22|July 23|July 24|July 25|July 26|July 27|July 28|July 29|July 30|July 31|August 1|August 2|August 3|August 4|August 5|August 6|August 7|August 8|August 9|August 10|August 11|August 12|August 13|August 14|August 15|August 16|August 17|August 18|August 19|August 20|August 21|August 22|August 23|August 24|August 25|August 26|August 27|August 28|August 29|August 30|August 31|September 1|September 2|September 3|September 4|September 5|September 6|September 7|September 8|September 9|September 10|September 11|September 12|September 13|September 14|September 15|September 16|September 17|September 18|September 19|September 20|September 21|September 22|September 23|September 24|September 25|September 26|September 27|September 28|September 29|September 30|September 31|October 1|October 2|October 3|October 4|October 5|October 6|October 7|October 8|October 9|October 10|October 11|October 12|October 13|October 14|October 15|October 16|October 17|October 18|October 19|October 20|October 21|October 22|October 23|October 24|October 25|October 26|October 27|October 28|October 29|October 30|October 31|November 1|November 2|November 3|November 4|November 5|November 6|November 7|November 8|November 9|November 10|November 11|November 12|November 13|November 14|November 15|November 16|November 17|November 18|November 19|November 20|November 21|November 22|November 23|November 24|November 25|November 26|November 27|November 28|November 29|November 30|November 31|December 1|December 2|December 3|December 4|December 5|December 6|December 7|December 8|December 9|December 10|December 11|December 12|December 13|December 14|December 15|December 16|December 17|December 18|December 19|December 20|December 21|December 22|December 23|December 24|December 25|December 26|December 27|December 28|December 29|December 30|December 31=|{{#switch:January 1|1 January|2 January|3 January|4 January|5 January|6 January|7 January|8 January|9 January|10 January|11 January|12 January|13 January|14 January|15 January|16 January|17 January|18 January|19 January|20 January|21 January|22 January|23 January|24 January|25 January|26 January|27 January|28 January|29 January|30 January|31 January|1 February|2 February|3 February|4 February|5 February|6 February|7 February|8 February|9 February|10 February|11 February|12 February|13 February|14 February|15 February|16 February|17 February|18 February|19 February|20 February|21 February|22 February|23 February|24 February|25 February|26 February|27 February|28 February|29 February|30 February|31 February|1 March|2 March|3 March|4 March|5 March|6 March|7 March|8 March|9 March|10 March|11 March|12 March|13 March|14 March|15 March|16 March|17 March|18 March|19 March|20 March|21 March|22 March|23 March|24 March|25 March|26 March|27 March|28 March|29 March|30 March|31 March|1 April|2 April|3 April|4 April|5 April|6 April|7 April|8 April|9 April|10 April|11 April|12 April|13 April|14 April|15 April|16 April|17 April|18 April|19 April|20 April|21 April|22 April|23 April|24 April|25 April|26 April|27 April|28 April|29 April|30 April|31 April|1 May|2 May|3 May|4 May|5 May|6 May|7 May|8 May|9 May|10 May|11 May|12 May|13 May|14 May|15 May|16 May|17 May|18 May|19 May|20 May|21 May|22 May|23 May|24 May|25 May|26 May|27 May|28 May|29 May|30 May|31 May|1 June|2 June|3 June|4 June|5 June|6 June|7 June|8 June|9 June|10 June|11 June|12 June|13 June|14 June|15 June|16 June|17 June|18 June|19 June|20 June|21 June|22 June|23 June|24 June|25 June|26 June|27 June|28 June|29 June|30 June|31 June|1 July|2 July|3 July|4 July|5 July|6 July|7 July|8 July|9 July|10 July|11 July|12 July|13 July|14 July|15 July|16 July|17 July|18 July|19 July|20 July|21 July|22 July|23 July|24 July|25 July|26 July|27 July|28 July|29 July|30 July|31 July|1 August|2 August|3 August|4 August|5 August|6 August|7 August|8 August|9 August|10 August|11 August|12 August|13 August|14 August|15 August|16 August|17 August|18 August|19 August|20 August|21 August|22 August|23 August|24 August|25 August|26 August|27 August|28 August|29 August|30 August|31 August|1 September|2 September|3 September|4 September|5 September|6 September|7 September|8 September|9 September|10 September|11 September|12 September|13 September|14 September|15 September|16 September|17 September|18 September|19 September|20 September|21 September|22 September|23 September|24 September|25 September|26 September|27 September|28 September|29 September|30 September|31 September|1 October|2 October|3 October|4 October|5 October|6 October|7 October|8 October|9 October|10 October|11 October|12 October|13 October|14 October|15 October|16 October|17 October|18 October|19 October|20 October|21 October|22 October|23 October|24 October|25 October|26 October|27 October|28 October|29 October|30 October|31 October|1 November|2 November|3 November|4 November|5 November|6 November|7 November|8 November|9 November|10 November|11 November|12 November|13 November|14 November|15 November|16 November|17 November|18 November|19 November|20 November|21 November|22 November|23 November|24 November|25 November|26 November|27 November|28 November|29 November|30 November|31 November|1 December|2 December|3 December|4 December|5 December|6 December|7 December|8 December|9 December|10 December|11 December|12 December|13 December|14 December|15 December|16 December|17 December|18 December|19 December|20 December|21 December|22 December|23 December|24 December|25 December|26 December|27 December|28 December|29 December|30 December|31 December=|}}}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox holiday with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| alt | begins | caption | celebrations | date | date2007 | date2008 | date2009 | date2010 | date2011 | date2012 | date2013 | date2014 | date2015 | date2016 | date2017 | date2018 | date2019 | date2020 | date2021 | date2022 | date2023 | date2024 | date2025 | date2025 | date2026 | date2027 | date2028 | date2029 | date2030 | duration | ends | firsttime | frequency | holiday_name | image | image_size | imagesize | lasttime | litcolor | longtype | mdy | month | nickname | observances | observedby | official_name | relatedto | scheduling | significance | startedby | type | week_ordinal | weekday }} The Template:Nihongo is an annual festival that takes place in Japan. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, Template:Nihongo. Prior to 1872, traditional events of the Japanese New Year were celebrated on the first day of the year on the modern Tenpō calendar, the last official lunisolar calendar.
HistoryEdit
Prior to the Meiji period, the date of the Japanese New Year had been based on Japanese versions of lunisolar calendar (the last of which was the Tenpō calendar) and, prior to Jōkyō calendar, the Chinese version. However, in 1873, five years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar and the first day of January became the official and cultural New Year's Day in Japan.
Traditional foodEdit
The Japanese eat a selection of dishes during the New Year celebration called Template:Nihongo3, typically shortened to osechi. Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried, so they can be kept without refrigeration: the culinary traditions date to a time before households had refrigerators and when most stores closed for the holidays. There are many variations of osechi, and some foods eaten in one region are not eaten in other places (or are even considered inauspicious or banned) on New Year's Day. Another popular dish is Template:Nihongo3, a soup with mochi rice cake and other ingredients, which differ in various regions of Japan. It is also very common to eat buckwheat noodles called toshikoshi soba on ōmisoka (New Year's Eve). Today, sashimi and sushi are often eaten, as well as non-Japanese foods. To let the overworked stomach rest, Template:Nihongo is prepared on the seventh day of January, a day known as Template:Nihongo3.
MochiEdit
Another custom is to create and eat Template:Nihongo. Steamed Template:Nihongo is put into a wooden container Template:Nihongo3 and patted with water by one person while another person hits it with a large wooden mallet. Mashing the rice, it forms a sticky white dumpling. This is made before New Year's Day and eaten during the beginning of January.
Mochi is made into a New Year's decoration called Template:Nihongo3, formed from two round cakes of mochi with a Template:Nihongo placed on top. The name daidai is supposed to be auspicious since it means "several generations."
Bell ringingEdit
At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples all over Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times (Joya no Kane Template:Nihongo3) to symbolize the 108 earthly temptations in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen. A major attraction is The Watched Night bell, in Tokyo. A traditional Japanese belief is that ringing bells can rid the sins of the passing year. The bell is rung 107 times on the 31st and once past midnight.
NengaEdit
The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest for Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of sending Template:Nihongo to their friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of sending Christmas cards. The original purpose was to give faraway friends and relatives tidings of oneself and one's immediate family— to tell those whom one did not often meet that he/she was alive and well.
Sending these greetings is timed so they will arrive on January 1. The post office guarantees delivery on that day if the cards are marked with the word nengajō and mailed between mid-December and a few days before year's end. To deliver them on time, the post office usually hires students part-time.
It is customary to refrain from sending these postcards when there has been a death in the family during the year. In this case, a family member sends a simple Template:Nihongo to inform friends and relatives that they should not send New Year's cards, out of respect for the deceased.
People get their nengajō from many sources. Stationers sell preprinted cards. Most of these have the Chinese zodiac sign of the New Year as their design, conventional greetings, or both. The Chinese zodiac has a cycle of 12 years. Each year is represented by an animal. The animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 2020 was the year of the Rat and the most recent start of the cycle. Famous characters like Snoopy, (2006) and other cartoon characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, (2008) have been especially popular in their celebrated years.
Addressing is generally done by hand, and is an opportunity to demonstrate one's handwriting (see shodō). The postcards may have spaces for the sender to write a personal message. Blank cards are available, so people can hand-write or draw their own. Rubber stamps with conventional messages and with the annual animal are for sale at department stores and other outlets, and many people buy ink brushes for personal greetings. Special printing devices are popular, especially among people who practice crafts. Computer software also lets artists create and print their own designs. Very social individuals, who have hundreds of cards to write, may go to print shops and choose from a wide variety of cards prepared with short messages, so the sender only has to address them. Despite the omnipresence of email, the nengajō remains very popular, although the younger generation sends hardly any cards. They prefer to exchange digital greetings via mobile phones, and in recent years the wider society gradually has come to accept digital greetings.
Conventional greetings include:
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3
OtoshidamaEdit
On New Year's Day, Japanese people have a custom known as Template:Ill where adult relatives give money to children. It is handed out in small decorated envelopes called pochibukuro, similar to Shūgi-bukuro or Chinese hóngbāo and to the Scottish handsel. In the Edo period, large stores and wealthy families would give out a small bag of mochi and a Mandarin orange to spread happiness all around. The amount of money given depends on the age of the child but is usually the same if there is more than one child so that no one feels slighted. It is not uncommon for amounts greater than ¥5,000 (approximately US$30) to be given.
PoetryEdit
The New Year traditions are also a part of Japanese poetry, including haiku (poems with 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven and five) and renga (linked poetry). All of the traditions above would be appropriate to include in haiku as kigo (season words). There are also haiku that celebrate many of the "first" of the New Year, such as the "first sun" (hatsuhi) or "first sunrise", "first laughter" (waraizome—starting the New Year with a smile is considered a good sign), and first dream (hatsuyume). Since the traditional New Year was later in the year than the current date, many of these mention the beginning of spring.
Along with the New Year's Day postcard, haiku might mention "first letter" (hatsudayori—meaning the first exchange of letters), "first calligraphy" (kakizome), and "first brush" (fude hajime).
TakarabuneEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
During the first three days of the New Year the Seven Lucky Gods are said to pilot through the heavens to human ports on the Takarabune or Treasure Ship.<ref name="Chiba">Template:Cite book</ref> A picture of the ship forms an essential part of traditional Japanese New Year celebrations.<ref name="V&A">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GamesEdit
It was also customary to play many New Year's games. These include hanetsuki, takoage (kite flying), koma (spinning top), sugoroku, fukuwarai (whereby a blindfolded person places paper parts of a face, such as eyes, eyebrows, a nose and a mouth, on a paper face), and karuta (Japanese playing cards).
EntertainmentEdit
There are many shows created as the end-of-year, and beginning-of-year entertainment, and some being a special edition of the regular shows. For many decades, it has been customary to watch the TV show Kōhaku Uta Gassen aired on NHK on New Year's Eve. The show features two teams, red and white, of popular music artists competing against each other.
SportEdit
The final of the Emperor's Cup, the national association football elimination tournament in New Year's Day. The final has taken place on New Year's Day since 1969 and is usually aired on NHK.
Mixed martial arts in Japan organizations such as Pride FC and Dream have held events on New Year's Eve and Rizin Fighting Federation has held New Year's Eve events since its founding in 2015.
Beethoven's NinthEdit
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with accompanying chorus, is traditionally performed throughout Japan during the New Year's season. In December 2009, for example, there were 55 performances of the symphony by various major orchestras and choirs in Japan.<ref>Brasor, Philip, "Japan makes Beethoven's Ninth No. 1 for the holidays", Japan Times, 24 December 2010, p. 20, retrieved on 24 December 2010; Uranaka, Taiga, "Beethoven concert to fete students' wartime sendoff", Japan Times, 1 December 1999, retrieved on 24 December 2010.</ref>
The Ninth was introduced to Japan during World War I by German prisoners held at the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp.<ref name="ST">Template:Cite news</ref> Japanese orchestras, notably the NHK Symphony Orchestra, began performing the symphony in 1925. During World War II, the Imperial government promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve, to encourage allegiance to Japanese nationalism.Template:Citation needed After the war, orchestras and choruses, undergoing economic hard times during the reconstruction of Japan, promoted performances of the piece around New Years because of the popularity of the music with the public. In the 1960s, performances of the symphony at New Years became more widespread, including participation by local choirs and orchestras, and established the tradition which continues to this day.<ref>Brasor, Philip, "Japan makes Beethoven's Ninth No. 1 for the holidays", Japan Times, 24 December 2010, p. 20, retrieved on 24 December 2010.</ref>
Little New YearEdit
There used to be also an associated festival of Template:Nihongo, traditionally celebrating the first full moon of the new year, on the 15th day of the first lunar month (approximately mid-February). This was celebrated around January 15, in various respects.Template:Clarify The main events of koshōgatsu are rites and practices praying for a bountiful harvest; Template:Nihongo is traditionally eaten in the morning and is involved in the rice gruel divination ceremony. New Year decorations are taken down around this date and burnt in the Sagichō or Dondoyaki fire, and some temples hold events, such as Tōrin-in.
Japanese Lunar New YearEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Some regions of Japan, including Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, used to celebrate Lunar New Year on the first day of the lunar calendar (around the first day of spring, in February of the Gregorian calendar).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nowadays, it is very rare to celebrate lunar new year as the new year is considered January 1.
See alsoEdit
- First sunrise
- Hatsumōde, the first Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year
- List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties
- Customs and etiquette of Japan
- Japanese festivals
- Japanese calendar
- Japanese cuisine
- Toso, spiced medicinal sake
- Namahage
- Celebrations of Lunar New Year in other parts of Asia:
- Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)
- Korean New Year (Seollal)
- Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar)
- Tibetan New Year (Losar)
- Vietnamese New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán)
- Similar Asian Lunisolar New Year celebrations that occur in April:
- Burmese New Year (Thingyan)
- Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey)
- Lao New Year (Pii Mai)
- Sri Lankan New Year (Aluth Avuruddu)
- Thai New Year (Songkran)