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Japanese Customs/Year-end and New Year Customs
in Japan/Japanese Wedding
Year-end & New Year Customs in Japan
Year-end Customs
 Ohsouji: Doing General House Cleaning
In December, Japanese people make general house cleaning.
Historically, this custom was initiated by the Samurai families and it was then imitated
by merchant families. Today, this custom has been maintained generally by
Japanese families.
Oseibo or Seibo: Year-end Gift
In Japan, this is the most common gift which is sent to express special thanks at
the end of the year, in December. This gift is employed by individuals, families and
companies. In December, the Department Stores have a special section selling
Oseibo gifts. Average amount for a gift is around 3000-5000 yen. Most common
Oseibo gift items are:
liquor, beverages, confectionary, seasoning, detergent, canned foods,
coffee, pickles, green tea, beef and other meat products.
Bonenkai: Year-end Party
Bonenkai Party is held in December and Bonenkai means Forget-the-year party
in Japanese. As for the place to hold the party, there is no fixed rule, but it is
usual to have it at Izakaya that is having party rooms which called
" Ozashiki (party room with floor of tatami mat)."
When you ask for the party room, you will ask the availablity of Ozashiki and
its capacity.
Izakaya and other Japanese restaurants provide course menu which costs
3000-7000yen, including 7-10 dishes, and offer all you can drink (nomihodai)
of anything on the menu(i.e. Beer, Sake, Whisky, Tea, Soft Drink) costing
1200-1500 yen per person. It is wise to have course menu with nomihodai
and with this system you can have party for two hours in Ozashiki party room.
Booking of Ozashiki has to be done in advance in November, making it in
December is late.
Toshokoshi-Soba:
Toshikoshi-Soba is the custom of eating Soba noodle on New Year's Eve.
Soba is long noodles and people eat it to wish for long life.
To have Toshikoshi-Soba, people visit nereby Soba restaurants.
Some well-known Soba restaurants with long history have a large
number of guests on New Year's Eve. One of them is Kanda Yabusoba
which is located at Awaji-cho on Marunouchi Subway Line, Tokyo.
Kanda Yabusoba's buiding is a traditional /old Japanese house and it offers an
exquisite setting and you can experience a quiet tucked away beauty of old time Japan. Small garden is an impressive one too.
At Yabusoba, you can order Mori-soba at 600 yen. Mori-soba is the most
simplest soba dish. Ten-soba is soba noodle with vegetable tempra costing
about 1200yen. On New Year's Eve, there will be a long line of guests,
so you have to keep it. Of course, there is no problem of having Toshikoshi-Soba
before New Year's Eve to avoid the long line.
People enjoy Toshikoshi-Soba at their homes as well. Soba noodle restaurants, epartment Stores and Supemarkets sell Toshikoshi-Soba noodle set for take out.
Many housewives prepare Toshikoshi-Soba at home.
Pictures of typical soba noodle restaurant and its dishes/Site2
at Kanda Yabu-Soba
Namiki Yabu-Soba in Asakusa
Shime-kazari/Kadomatsu: Preparing New Years Ornament
A typical ornament of New Year decoration is Shime-kazari which will be
decorated beside the entrance door of house.
Another ornement is Kadomatsu which will be put on both sides of gate of house.
Today, Shime-kazari is usual as the ornament to celebrate the New Year and
he prepared ornament can be bought at Supermarkets/Department Stores.
Shime-kazari costs 1000-2000.
Sample Picture of the Shime-Kazari
Year-End/Nenmatsu
New Year Customs
Joya-no-kane: Bells Runging at the New Year Eve's night
At the temples with large bell" Tsurigane "(Hanging large bell) in Japan,
bells are rung 108 times throughout the country to drive away the
108 evil thoughts in Buddhism.
People can attend the midnight tooling of the temple bells.
TV stations will broadcast the tooling of the bells at famous temples,
such as the temples in Kyoto.
Visiting Shrine/Temple
It is a nation-wide tradition to visit a shrine or temple on January 1.
People will visit nearby shrine or temple with their family members
or friends. In Tokyo, a huge number of people will visit the Meiji-
Jingu Shrine ( Nearby station: Harajuku Station on Yamanote Line).
The railroad companies provide 24-hour services.
By visiting the temple/shrine, people will pray for the happiness
in the new year. They contribute a small amount of money for
the shine/temple by throwing coins into the money contribution
box(Saisen-Baco). If you are rich or you are going to ask an
excessive wish, you may contribute a large amount with paper money.
Foods on New Years Day
It is also a traditional custom to eat a specially selected dishes
on New Years Day in Japan. It is called " Osechi-ryori" or "Osechi."
Tips: Osechi-ryori
The following dishes make up Osechi-ryori.
Zoni or Ozoni : Soup with mochi(rice cake), vegetables and fish
Kamaboko: Jellied fish paste, sliced, white and pink colored
Kurikinton: Mashed sweet potato with marrons
Kuromame: Black beans, boiled and flavored
Date-maki: Rolled sweet omelet
Kobu-maki: Sweetly boiled seaweed wrapped cod fish
Kazunoko:Boiled and flavored herring roe
Namasu:Radish and carrot pickles
Nimono: Boiled /flavored white radishes, burdocks, lotus roots, taros
Tagoto: Sweetly boiled and flavored small dried fishes
These dishes have special meanings for happiness and health
in the New Year.( Osechi-Ryori / Osechi - Japanese New Year's cuisine )
In the past, almost all Osechi-ryori dishes were prepared by housewives at home.
However, except Zoni, Nimono and Namasu, many people buy the prepared/
cooked Osechi-ryori dishes at supermarkets/department stores and famous
restaurants.
Foods sections of department stores and supermarkets sell the cooked
Osechi and you can find special sections for Osechi there during 28th-31st
December.
Osechi section at a supermarket
Individual Osechi items costs 700-1500yen. Osechi dishes are durable for
7-12 days. People buy Osechi dishes during the year end period and serve
them on 1st -3rd January.
Another method to have Osechi dishes is to buy a complete set of
Osechi disheswhich is prepared and delivered by the Japanese restaurants,
chinese restaurants, department stores and supermarket.
They costs 10,000-50,000yen per set. They can be eaten by 3-5 people.
Set of Osechi-ryori dishes are packed in layers of lacquer boxes
which are called" Jubako." The set dishes will be delivered
on 30 or 31 December.
A small Osechi set
Some convenience stores sell a box of Osechi dishes at 1500-1700yen.
With this Osechi box, it is possible to taste the typical Osechi dishes.
The prepared Osechi you bought have to be kept in refrigerator.
Osechi dishes will be served with Ozouni(Zoni), cooked rice cake
(mochi) with soybean paste stock(soup) during the new year's days, 1-3 January.
Zoni/Ozoni will be prepared at home, on New Years day.
Kind of soup and ingredient differ with family and with region
of the country.
Ozoni/Zoni and its cooking
(Cookbook/Zoni-Eastern Japan Style)
Japanese New Year's Food/About.com
Mochi-Japanese Rice Dough/Japan-101.com
Exchanging New Years Day Postcard
Japanese have a custom of exchanging New Years Day postcards
with their friends and relatives.
It is just similar to the custom of sending Christmas cards in Western World.
The Japan Post will sell the New Years Day Postcards at 50 yen
per card. With the postcards, people write or print their message with
pictures of the Chinese zodiac sign of the new year as pictorial design.
The sign is represented by 12 animals, such as:
Mouse, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep,
Monkey, Bird, Dog and Boar.
Namely, Monkey is the animal for the year 2004.
Don't miss the picture of animal on your postcard.
Pictures for New Years Day Postcards/Free pictures/Templatebank
There is an important rule that it is strictly observed that
if you or your friends have had sorrowful tidings
(death of relatives) during the year, they do not exchange
the New Years Day Postcards. In that instance, you are
expected to send a simple postcard telling to your friends
and relatives that you are unable to receive any New Years
Day Postcards.
Related Links:
Japanese New Year
New Year
Oshougatsu/New Year Custom and Foods
Bon Festival
Bon Festival is celebrated in Japan on 15 August and it is called as
" Obon" or ""Bon." Originally, this festival has been done as the Buddhist's
annual service at temples and houses and this service has been conducted
for those who died in the past, particularly for those who passed away in
the last year. The features of Obon include offering of various foods and
drinks for deceased and at the same time those will be offered to living
people at Obon dinner. It has been an important event for family members
who are living outside the home town, especially who are living urban areas
for works.
All of family members will gather on this occasion at their home
town. It is called " Kisei" and it makes serious traffic jam in the
whole country. Travelers who have to book trains/air planes
during the Obon period in mid August may avoid this period or
will make booking in advance.
In the communities, they have Bon Odori Festival (Bon Dance
Festival) and family members and visitors will attend the dance festival
with traditional dance costume or Yukata(Kimono ware for summer
time) Kimono ware.
Bon Festival in Hiroshima
Weddings in Japan
Japanese weddings are celebrated by many styles, including the Shinto style,
Buddhist style, Christian style and other non-religious styles.
When selecting the religious style, it does not depend on the couple's religion.
It means that a couple choose the Christian style , as they prefer the western style
wedding ceremony, even their family's religion is Buddhism.
Japanese weddings are usually held at wedding ceremony halls
(complex), hotels, shrines, temples and restaurants. In the past,
weddings were held at groom's house and today in local areas
we can see the custom.
After the wedding ceremony, wedding party will be held.
The relatives, friends, co-workers of the bride and groom will
attend the party. The attendants(guests) may be expected to
bring cash as wedding gift for the bride and groom. Usually the
amount is 20000-30000yen and the money is enclosed in the
decorated "Noshi-bukuro"envelop to be specially used on
wedding occasion. The guests will carry the Noshi-bukuro
envelop with them and hand over it to the reception of the wedding party.
The Noshi-bukuro envelop can be bought at stationery shop, convenient store,
supermarket or department store.
In the wedding party, the Nakoudo(appointed couple, husband and wife,
who coordinates the wedding) will introduce the bride and groom,
and some friends and co-workers will make speeches to celebrate the wedding.
It is a custom to give a set of return gift to the guests. The return gift is called "
Hikidemono" and hotels or wedding halls have a list of Hikidemono, so at the time
of making the arrangement for the wedding, it is possible to select
a favorite Hikidemono. Including meals and Hikidemono, the average
cost for a wedding party in Japan is around 2-3 million yen for 100-
200 guests.
Weddings/japan-guide.com/Basic information on Japanese
weddings
Japanese Wedding/Japan for Visitors/About.com
A Japanese Wedding/Ed's Photos of Japan
Traditional Japanese Weddings/Japanese Wedding Ceremony
with Pictures
How to Plan a Japanese Wedding
Wedding Hall/Restaurant/Shrine
Chinzan-so
Antica Osteria Ponte
Hiejinja Reception Hall
Hiramatsu Bridal Hall
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