In Japan, New Year's is the main winter holiday, and there are a lot of traditions surrounding it. I confess, this year I've opted out of a lot, just enjoying it all from the sidelines. But I have enjoyed seeing all the decorations going up, especially the kadomatsu "corner pine" arrangements that are placed at the corners of each entrance. Particularly, I like the ones by big office buildings which are hugely elaborate (way beyond the simple pine branch frequently seen at homes or small establishments). Here are a few kadomatsu pictures I've taken in the past days:
I also like the concept of "O-Soji", or a big "Spring Cleaning" (well, New Year's cleaning). It's always nice to start the year out with a fresh and clean home!
Plus, there's Hatsumode, or the first visit to the Shrine or Temple in the new year. Many people go at midnight and when I lived in Motoyama, that's what I used to do. But here in the city, there are swarms of people, and I'm just not interested in the crowds. So a friend and I are planning to go on the 4th for our Hatsumode, hoping by then most people will be done and it won't be quite as crowded. Technically, hatsumode can occur anytime up through February, so Jan 4th really isn't late at all.
There are lots of other really interesting and fun traditions, but I'm going to shortcut and provide you all with a link to Wikipedia, where they're already all written about. If you're interested, please, take a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year
In the meantime,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
See you all back here in 2012!
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