By Anne Cisney

It is late December. The days are getting shorter, the air colder, and across the country millions of people are preparing to begin the annual migration from the fast-paced cities in which they live and work, to their home towns, their furusato. Shopping malls sport festive decorations and ring with seasonal music. Plane, train, and bus tickets in hand, the thoughts of many travelers turn to the friends, family members, traditional holiday food and popular annual television programs which are such an integral part of the most family-oriented holiday of the year. Children, of course, also look forward to having a few days off from school and to

Kadomatsu decoration outside a shrine near Kobe. Photo courtesy of Anne Cisney.

The first sign of the season comes in early December, when people begin writing nengajo, New Year's postcards, to the folks in their lives who have helped make the past year a successful one. On the morning of January first, dozens of these cards pour into Japanese mail slots expressing the wish for the continued friendship, good health and good fortune of the addressee.

Food becomes a very important part of Oshogatsu celebrations from New Year's Eve through January 3rd. Almost all of the foods traditionally eaten during the New Year holiday are associated with health and longevity. These include black beans called kuromame, steamed and pounded rice called mochi, various kinds of fish, and toshikoshi soba—a dish made of long, thin noodles which represent the long, healthy lives New Year's celebrants hope lie before them. The process of using bamboo mallets to pound rice into mochi, which sometimes takes place publicly at community Shinto shrines, is itself a very strong New Year's tradition, and comes close to being an athletic event as well. As one man raises his mallet above the gooey rice, another deftly shifts it with his fingers, escaping before the heavy mallet comes crashing down to pound the rice again. Only through careful adherence to rhythm do they avoid painful injury.

Oshogatsu also provides women with a unique chance to relax. In appreciation for a completed year of hard work, women are not expected to do much housework during the first three days of January. To prepare for this vacation, however, the last days of December often mark a massive effort of cooking and cleaning undertaken by the women of the household. As a result, when the new year dawns, the house is clean and its kitchen is stocked full of Osechi Ryouri, a traditional assortment of auspicious foods packaged in elegant, lacquered wooden boxes. These set meals can be purchased ready-made from local grocery stores for added convenience, but come with a considerable price tag.

As part of a custom called Hatsumode, many people dress in kimono and travel to a local shrine during the first days of January to pray for a prosperous year to come and to offer thanks for everything they have received in the previous year. Really ambitious people go just before midnight on December 31st so that they can offer prayers almost as soon as the bells which ring in the new year have tolled. Many worshippers supplement their prayers with purchases of Omamori, good-luck charms which are for sale year round but are especially popular during this holiday season.

Shrines, as well as houses, storefronts and community buildings, are decorated with kadomatsu, bouquets of bamboo, plum, and pine branches which are symbols of celebration and prosperity, throughout the holiday. Many families also travel to see relatives between December 31st and January 3rd, often joining siblings, children and grandchildren at gatherings hosted by the oldest male family member.

Given that Oshogatsu is the most fundamental Japanese winter holiday, one might wonder whether Christmas is completely overlooked. It is and it isn't. Christmas lights and music and even Christmas trees are widely visible in shopping centers and in many homes, but the holiday itself is much more like an American New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day—an opportunity for a party, or for couples to spend a romantic evening together, savoring the Christmas ambiance.

An absence of a traditional Christmas in Japan does not mean that there is a lack of winter gift-giving. Almost every adult returns from their relatives' homes with bags of small presents unique to the region they have visited, to be given to neighbors, company superiors, teachers and other people who helped them throughout the year. This custom is another expression of the Oshogatsu theme of giving thanks for the blessings one has received and requesting continued goodwill. Some children receive presents from Santa Claus, but all look forward to gifts of money called Otoshi Dama received from adult relatives on New year's Day, a custom retained from a poorer era when these gifts were a child's only chance to make purchases of his or her own.

When we asked our Japanese friends what they felt was the most important aspect of this very traditional celebration, college students mentioned excellent food and the chance to see friends and family; adults stressed that Oshogatsu embodies traditional Japanese values. Everyone called it an annual turning point which puts the rest of the year in perspective. It is a pause in the hectic flow of everyday life which lets people enjoy rare time with their families, take measure of their good fortune, show appreciation for people who always support them, and recognize what hurdles lie before them as they face the coming year.

Captions:

1. This handmade Ukioe nengajo bears the image of a dragon, symbol of the year 2000, and the standard New Year's greeting "Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu."
2. Osechi Ryori served in black lacquered boxes.
3. Shrine visitor praying at a large incense pot.
4. Worshippers at a shrine offering prayers just after midnight, on January 1st.
5. Arrows to "poke away the devil," sold at Meiji Jingu shrine.
6. A vendor selling daruma, dolls who bring good luck.
7. Colonel Sanders showing his Christmas spirit outside Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kokubunji, Tokyo.