Welcoming the New Year in Japan

Winter vacation has come to a close which means I will be heading back to work tomorrow. I spent a few days in Seoul, and that was a great. Seoul would be a cool city to live in, and like Japan, Korea pays its English teachers pretty well. Who knows? Maybe I'll head there for a year or two after Yakage.

I wanted to be back in Japan for New Year's though. Its the most important holiday to the Japanese so I wanted to see how they celebrated it. Like the rest of the world, Japan goes out partying and counting down until midnight, but it has a deeper meaning.

Food stalls set up all week

The festivities occur at a local shrine where bells will ring announcing the new year. Then businesses will close for a number of days for people to continue celebrating. Some big chains will open by the 2nd or 3rd, but my favorite bakery has been closed all week, which was very upsetting. During this time, everyone is returning to their hometowns and going to a local shrine for hatsumoude, or the first visit of the year. At the shrine, you're wishing for good fortune this coming year. If you're a student or parent, this usually means praying for success in future high school/university entrance exams.

Wash your hands first!

I was fortunate enough to go to hatsumoude with a Japanese family, and they were nice enough to put up with me asking so many questions and to show me what to do. During other trips to shrines, like in Kyoto, I was always just going as a tourist, so I would always just walk through and never really wanted to wait in line with everyone else to pay money to get a fortune made for me. But this was hatsumoude, so I had to.



This photo on the left is like a giant collection dish as people throw in some change as an offering to the kami, or god, bow twice, clap twice, then bow once more as you pray for its blessing.



 There's a lot of praying that goes on at various places around the shrine's grounds. I guess less is not more in this case. In order to get my fortune for the year, I shook that wooden case, and received a description based on the number that came out. In case you were wondering, mine was normal luck for this coming year, as long as I remain calm and easy-going. After you read your fortune, you don't take it home with you, instead you just tie and seal it off forever.

 Also, as you might expect of an East Asia country with a lot of ties to Chinese culture, zodiac signs are fairly important. During my time in Seoul and throughout town, I've seen banners welcoming the new year with pictures of horses on them. So yes, for all the 1990 babies out there, this is your year. I'll be waiting a while for the snake to come around again.