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Ōmisoka (大晦日) or ōtsugomori (大晦) is a Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year. Traditionally, it was held on the final day of the 12th lunar month. With Japan's switch to using the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, it is now used on New Year's Eve to celebrate the new year.
Japanese commonly use proverbs, often citing just the first part of common phrases for brevity. For example, one might say i no naka no kawazu (井の中の蛙, 'a frog in a well') to refer to the proverb i no naka no kawazu, taikai o shirazu (井の中の蛙、大海を知らず, 'a frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean').
The dishes that make up osechi each have a special meaning celebrating the New Year. Some examples are: Daidai (橙, だいだい), Japanese bitter orange. Daidai means "from generation to generation" when written in different kanji as 代々. Like kazunoko below, it symbolizes a wish for children in the New Year.
Mochitsuki (餅搗き, もちつき) – A traditional activity for occasions like Japanese New-Year, rice is pounded into mochi and is eaten in hopes of gaining good fortune over the coming year. The activity is associated with the moon, jade, or golden rabbit, which according to East-Asian folklore, is said to pound rice (or the elixir of ...
Ryōgen (left), 18th chief abbot (zasu) of Enryaku-ji. The omikuji sequence historically commonly used in Japanese Buddhist temples, consisting of one hundred prophetic five-character quatrains, is traditionally attributed to the Heian period Tendai monk Ryōgen (912–985), posthumously known as Jie Daishi (慈恵大師) or more popularly, Ganzan Daishi (元三大師), and is thus called ...
A bōnenkai (忘年会, literally "forget the year gathering") is a Japanese drinking party that takes place at the end of the year and is generally held among groups of co-workers or friends. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The purpose of the party, as its name implies, is to forget the woes and troubles of the past year, and hopefully look to the new year ...
A lazy greeting is regarded with the type of disdain that would accompany a limp handshake in parts of the West. The most common greetings are ohayō gozaimasu (おはようございます) or "good morning", used until about 11:00 a.m. but may be used at any time of day.
Nengajō, new year cards in Japan. The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest for Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of sending New Year's Day postcards (年賀状, nengajō) to their friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of sending Christmas cards. The original purpose was to give faraway ...