A New Year in Tokyo

Following are some comparisons and contrasts between Japanese and American New Year’s celebrations:

The Words
We (English speakers) say “Happy New Year” to one another or, in Christmas cards and such, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”

In Japan, the two phrases generally don’t go together. The last words you hear from a lot of people (that is, from Japanese speakers) at the end of a year are 「よいおとしを！」, which simply means Have a Good Next Year (よい =good, おとし=year, and を is a particle for directives/requests). This phrase is only good at the tail end of a year.

Once the New Year’s midnight strikes, Happy New Year becomes 「あけましておめでとうございます！」( “Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu”) which means Happy New Year, or more literally Congratulations on Starting the New Year. Something does touch me about people congratulating their fellow human beings on making it to another new year of living.

New Year’s Eve= 大晦日　(おおみそか , Oomisoka)
New Year’s Day= お正月　(おしょうがつ, oshogatsu), although the oshougatsu holiday actually lasts for about a week. For many it runs no longer than January 2 and 3, which have traditionally been days off for working people, retail businesses, etc. (In the past few years, though, stores have been having Jan. 2 and 3 sales, so retail employees may not enjoy the same holiday period as others.)

The Customs
The custom in Japan is to clean your house at the end of the year. This symbolic and practical act is a tradition that still seems to persevere across the different generations. Even if not everyone does it, the non-doers seem to acknowledge it as a tradition, so far as I can tell. (But, of course, I don’t mean to speak for everyone.)

There is what is considered in Japan to be New Year’s cuisine, called (osechi ryouri), the most well-known example of which would be mochi (rice cakes). This particular New Year’s tradition may be waning, as a number of younger people don’t like the taste so much. Osechi is sweet in the Japanese way of being sweet. I’m not sure how to explain the difference, but Japanese people and Westerners alike have acknowledged that there are different kinds of sweetness; cake made at an American bakery will likely be sweeter (due to larger amounts of sugar added) than a cake from a Japanese bakery. On the other hand, azuki beans (in anpan) have a kind of sweetness that many a Westerner has never tasted, and it may be a bit hard for some to endure.
The reason that osechi exists, people here tell me, is that in the old days Oshougatsu was meant to be a break for everybody, and in order for a homemaker to have a break, the family had to have food that lasted for a little while (i.e. a few days). Osechi lasts such a while. And with such lasting, well-preserved food, the homemaker wouldn’t have to cook during Oshogatsu. (Remember, refrigerators came to Japan fairly recently, so past centuries of Japanese tradition functioned without the consideration of modern kitchen appliances.) Such was the benefit of osechi ryori.
I say that the tradition may be waning not only because I know a lot of young people who don’t quite like the taste, but also because supermarkets and convenience stores have been selling osechi for years, the result of which is that the newer generations don’t have to learn how to prepare it. And, also, we have fridges now, so people can pretty much keep any kind of food for the span of days or even weeks.

Another somewhat waning tradition is for everybody who moved to the big cities to go back to their hometowns for the New Year. When I first got to Tokyo 7-and-a-half years ago, the place was fairly deserted on New Year’s Eve/Day, except for the shrines and temples. I couldn’t even withdraw money from the ATM on New Year’s Day. But now more people are choosing to avoid that holiday rush (and the jacked-up prices that often accompany travel in and from Japan during peak seasons). Also, more companies are allowing employees flexibility in choosing the dates of their vacations. And retailers know it. Every department store has a New Year’s sale, and consumers seem to go for it in a big way.

People in both cultures drink and get drunk to celebrate. In Tokyo, they extend train service to cover the whole night (as opposed to the usual midnight-1am stoppage), although the trains are much fewer and far between as it gets later. I had to wait 20 minutes last night/this morning on the platform in the winter cold, which is on other days unheard of in this metropolis. Drinking and driving isn’t nearly as much of a problem here as it is in the states. Some drink champagne, but probably more drink Japanese sake, the rice wine we see sometimes in movies and on television. And, of course, beer.

While most people in the West don’t turn to specific New Year’s dishes for good luck, in Japan there is soba (buckwheat noodles), or more specifically, toshikoshi soba. The long noodles symbolize long life. You can eat it hot or cold.

People go to shrines and temples to pray (初詣 , hatsumoude) in Japan, either Dec. 31 or the first days of January. There are no college bowl games for the Japanese New Year, aside from foreigners who watch them on cable or the Internet.

There is the New Year countdown in both places. I haven’t seen all that many people in Japan kiss at the stroke of midnight. Lots of them scream in celebration and take pictures, though.

Whereas Westerners write Christmas cards, Japanese people focus more on New Year’s cards, usually postcards.

Some people know about New Year’s Resolutions in Japan, but not everybody. Oftentimes this will be the first English lesson of the year, for many an eikaiwa (English conversation school) teacher.

And finally, in Japan there is otoshidama(お年玉). Adults give children money in small envelopes.

This is the start of my blog. 今年もよろしくお願いします!