New Year's Day(元旦) 在 🇯🇵 日本

Shogatsu is the most important holiday in the Japanese calendar. Unlike many countries where New Year's Eve is the main event, in Japan the focus falls squarely on the days from January 1st through 3rd. Families return to their hometowns in a massive annual migration, and businesses close for the sanganichi (three-day period).

The traditional New Year's meal is osechi-ryori, an elaborate collection of dishes packed in layered lacquerware boxes called jubako. Each item carries symbolism: kuromame (black beans) for health, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (candied sardines) for a bountiful harvest, and kurikinton (chestnut paste) for wealth. Ozoni, a mochi rice cake soup, varies by region with clear broth in eastern Japan and white miso in Kyoto.

Hatsumode, the first shrine or temple visit of the year, draws millions. Meiji Shrine in Tokyo alone receives over three million visitors in the first three days. Visitors pray for health and success, draw omikuji fortune slips, and purchase omamori good luck charms. Temple bells ring 108 times at midnight on New Year's Eve (joya no kane) to cleanse 108 worldly desires.

Children receive otoshidama, small decorated envelopes containing money, from parents and relatives. Homes are decorated with kadomatsu (pine and bamboo arrangements), shimekazari (sacred rope ornaments), and kagami mochi (stacked rice cakes). The first sunrise of the year, hatsuhinode, is watched from mountaintops and coastlines across the country.

The first day of the Gregorian calendar year, celebrated worldwide with fireworks, parties, and resolutions marking fresh beginnings on January 1.