The most important holiday for many families
Oshogatsu, often shortened to Shogatsu, is the New Year period in Japan. For many households it is the longest and most significant holiday of the year, comparable in weight to a major family holiday elsewhere. Schools and many businesses close for several days, people travel to their relatives’ homes, and the usual pace of life slows.
The central idea is a fresh start. The old year is cleaned and settled, and the household prepares to receive the deity of the new year, a figure traditionally called toshigami. Many of the customs below are understood as ways of preparing for that welcome, though people today may follow them for family, taste or habit rather than belief.
Japan has used the Gregorian calendar since 1873, so Oshogatsu now falls on January 1. Before that, it came with the old lunar new year, which fell in what is now late January or February. A few regional customs and some of the language of the season, such as calling the New Year the first day of spring in greetings, still echo the older timing.
Preparing at the year’s end
The last days of December are busy.
- Big cleaning. A thorough house cleaning, called osoji, is traditional. It is both practical and symbolic, clearing away the old year’s dust before the new year arrives. Companies and schools often do the same.
- Decorations. At the entrance of a home or shop, people place kadomatsu, an arrangement of pine and bamboo that is often described as a place for the deity to rest, and shimenawa, twisted straw ropes with white paper streamers, to mark a pure space. The decorations are usually put up before the thirty-first, and the twenty-ninth is often avoided for various reasons of superstition.
- Kagami mochi. Two round rice cakes, stacked with a small citrus fruit on top, are displayed as an offering. Many households put them in a place of honor, such as the tokonoma alcove, if they have one.
- Cooking ahead. The special New Year foods are prepared in advance so that cooks can rest during the first days.
- Greeting cards. Many people write New Year cards, called nengajo, that are delivered together on January 1 by the postal service. The habit has declined as messaging apps have become popular but has not disappeared.
New Year’s Eve
The last night of the year is called Omisoka. A common custom is eating toshikoshi soba, buckwheat noodles, as the year ends. Explanations vary, but a popular one is that the long noodles suggest a long life or a clean break from the old year.
Near midnight, many Buddhist temples ring their large bell 108 times, in a ceremony called Joya no kane. A common explanation is that the number corresponds to a set of worldly desires in Buddhist thought, and that each ring helps to dispel one. The sound of a temple bell on a cold night is a well-loved part of the season, and many people go out to hear it or to take part. The wider role of such sounds in sacred places is covered in the article on temple bells.
The first days
The first three days of January are traditionally a period of rest and visiting.
Osechi
The special food of this season is osechi ryori, typically served in stacked lacquered boxes called jubako. The dishes were traditionally made to keep without cooking, and many carry symbolic meanings, usually based on wordplay. For example, black soybeans are linked to the word for diligence and good health, herring roe to the hope for many descendants, and sea kelp to a word that sounds like joy. Exactly which dishes are included varies by region and family, and many families now buy part or all of the set. The layered boxes are close cousins of the bento boxes, and the care taken over arrangement is familiar from the traditional meal.
Another important dish is ozoni, a soup containing rice cakes. The broth and the shape of the cake differ widely by region: in some areas the cakes are round and in others square, and the soup might be clear or contain miso. This makes ozoni a good example of local variety in a supposedly national custom. The fermented seasonings behind such soups are discussed in the article on fermented seasonings.
The first shrine or temple visit
The first visit of the year to a shrine or temple is called hatsumode. Many people go in the first three days of January, though any time during the first weeks is acceptable. The visit generally includes a prayer for the coming year and often the purchase of a new amulet. Some people buy a replacement for their old charms, which are returned to be burned in a ritual. The article on omamori charms describes these objects further, and the guide to shrine etiquette covers what visitors do at the shrine itself.
Popular shrines can be extremely crowded, with long lines to reach the offering box. Some people prefer to go later in the month, or to a smaller local shrine.
Other firsts
The idea of “firsts” runs through the season: the first sunrise of the year (hatsuhinode), the first dream, the first calligraphy, and the first shopping sales. Calligraphy writing in the new year, called kakizome, is traditionally done by schoolchildren, who write a phrase or poem with a brush.
Gifts, greetings and games
Common greetings include “Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu,” roughly “Happy New Year,” used from January 1, and a year-end phrase wishing the other person a good new year in advance.
Children traditionally receive small gifts of money in decorated envelopes, called otoshidama, from relatives. The amount varies with family and age, and the practice is not universal.
Games associated with the season include karuta, card games based on poetry or proverbs, and the shuttlecock game hanetsuki, played with decorated wooden paddles. Kites and spinning tops are likewise seen as winter toys. See the pieces on traditional games and karuta cards for more.
The end of the season
The decoration period is called matsu no uchi, and the decorations are traditionally taken down around January 7 in many places, and a little later in some regions such as parts of the Kansai area. On or around January 7, many households eat a porridge of rice with seven spring herbs, a custom linked to one of the old seasonal festival days. Used decorations and charms are often burned together at a shrine or temple in a fire festival in mid-January, a ceremony often called dondo yaki, although names vary.
Change and variety
As with any tradition, Oshogatsu has changed. In many households, home-cooked osechi has been replaced by store-bought sets, or by the sort of food that guests actually enjoy. Some businesses now open on January 1. Younger people may spend the holiday traveling, and some choose a more modest observance. Even so, the mood of reset, family time and quiet remains recognizable. It remains one of the clearest examples of how the year has a shape in Japan, with a long run-up and a gradual return to ordinary life.