Celebrated Holiday in JAPAN

How are you going to spend the New Year this year? the New Year is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. This is the same for Japan too. We have a lot of traditional customs in the New Year. Usually most of people don’t work on the first three days of the New Year. On these days, the people go to shrines, visit relatives and friends, drink sake and eat special new-year dishes, called Osechi.

At the beginning of the year, people visit shrines to pray for happiness and a healthy year. This is the most important Shinto event in the New Year, and we call it Hatsumoude. It is one of the few occasions when many people wear kimonos. People also buy lucky charms and draw sacred lots to tell their fortunes for the year.

After Hatsumoude, people visit relatives and friends to celebrate the New Year. Children look forward to this event, because they can receive New Year’s money from not only their parents but also their extended family. It is one of the greatest pleasures for children during the New Year holiday. This event is also enjoyable for adults. Usually they hold a New Year party even past the first three days of the New Year.

The first three days of January, people drink sake and eat special new-year dishes, called Osechi. New Year's dishes are all prepared after the year-end house cleaning on New Year's Eve. The dishes differ from one area to another but the foods that make up Osechi each have a special meaning associated with good luck. These days, more people buy Osechi in department stores, online stores, high-end French and Italian restaurants, instead of making it at home. Expensive Osechi which costs more than US$200 is also selling well.

This is the traditional way people spend the New Year's Holiday. The New Year is one of the most celebrated and important holidays for the Japanese. So if you want to experience Japanese culture, I recommend you enjoy a homestay in Japan during the New Year’s Holiday.