,
New Year's EveNew Year's Eve or Old Year's Night is on , the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year's Day.New Year's Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year's Day...
, is the second-most important day in
Japanese traditionOn January 1, 1873, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays, but before 1873, a lunisolar calendar was in use, which was adapted from the Chinese calendar...
because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of
New Year's DayThe Japanese celebrate New Year's Day on January 1 each year on the Gregorian Calendar. Before 1873, the date of the was based on the Chinese lunar calendar and celebrated at the beginning of spring, just as the contemporary Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese New Years are celebrated to this day...
, which is the most important day of the year.
People tend to be very busy on Ōmisoka because they have much to do to prepare for the new year, and New Year's Day in particular. Many even do a thorough house cleaning, called
ōsōji . The exercise is much like the annual
spring cleaningSpring cleaning is the period in spring time set aside for cleaning a house, normally applied in climates with a cold winter.The most common usage of spring cleaning refers to the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year typically...
that people in most colder climates do and even involves changing the paper on
shōjiIn traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a sort of grid of wood or bamboo...
doors and setting
tatamimats are a traditional type of Japanese flooring. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in uniform sizes...
mats out to air in the sun.
,
New Year's EveNew Year's Eve or Old Year's Night is on , the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year's Day.New Year's Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year's Day...
, is the second-most important day in
Japanese traditionOn January 1, 1873, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays, but before 1873, a lunisolar calendar was in use, which was adapted from the Chinese calendar...
because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of
New Year's DayThe Japanese celebrate New Year's Day on January 1 each year on the Gregorian Calendar. Before 1873, the date of the was based on the Chinese lunar calendar and celebrated at the beginning of spring, just as the contemporary Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese New Years are celebrated to this day...
, which is the most important day of the year.
People tend to be very busy on Ōmisoka because they have much to do to prepare for the new year, and New Year's Day in particular. Many even do a thorough house cleaning, called
ōsōji . The exercise is much like the annual
spring cleaningSpring cleaning is the period in spring time set aside for cleaning a house, normally applied in climates with a cold winter.The most common usage of spring cleaning refers to the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year typically...
that people in most colder climates do and even involves changing the paper on
shōjiIn traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a sort of grid of wood or bamboo...
doors and setting
tatamimats are a traditional type of Japanese flooring. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in uniform sizes...
mats out to air in the sun. Similarly, on the final day of school before winter break, elementary school children do their own
ōsōji to get their schools ready for the new year, and most businesses spend the year's final work day cleaning. The purpose of all this is to get ready to welcome in the new year with everything—including people's minds and bodies—in a fresh, clean state, making everything ready for the new beginning that New Year's Day is held to signify.
After cleaning, Japanese have the largest dinner of the year. Around 11:00
pm on Ōmisoka at home, people often gather for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of
toshikoshi-sobais a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. Moreover, it is common in Japan to refer to any thin noodle as soba in contrast to udon which are thick noodles made from wheat...
or
toshikoshi-udonis a type of thick wheat-flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in a mildly flavoured broth, in its simplest form as kake udon, served in kakejiru made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
together—a tradition based on people's association of eating the long noodles with “crossing over from one year to the next,” which is the meaning of
toshi-koshi. While the noodles are often eaten plain, or with chopped
scallionA scallion is an edible plant the genus Allium. The upper green portion is hollow. It lacks a fully-developed root bulb. They are milder than most onions. They may be cooked or used raw, as a part of salads or Asian recipes. Diced scallions are used in soup, noodle and seafood dishes...
s, in some localities people top them with
tempura, which may be of Portuguese origin, is a popular Japanese dish of deep fried battered meats, seafood, or vegetables.- Batter :A light batter is made of cold water and soft wheat flour. Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added...
. Traditionaly, families make
OsechiOsechi-ryōri are traditional Japanese New Year foods. The tradition started in the Heian Period . Osechi are easily recognizable by their special boxes called jūbako, which resemble bentō boxes...
for new year day because cooking during the first 3 days of the new year is not a good thing for
Kami of kitchensIn Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God, named Zao Jun or Zao Shen , is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family with the addition of being celebrated in Vietnamese culture...
. But nowadays, most of families buy Osechi, cook ordinary dishes, or just don't know that custom.
At midnight, many visit a
shrineA shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated...
or
templeA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
for
Ninen-mairi . (See
Hatsumōdeis the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan. Some people visit a Buddhist temple instead. Many visit on the first, second, or third day of the year as most are off work on those days. Generally, wishes for the new year are made, new o-mamori are bought, and the old ones are returned to the...
) .
Ninen means two years and
mairi means pilgrimage.
Another regular feature of Ōmisoka starts at 7:30
pm when public broadcaster
NHKNHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization...
airs
Kōhaku Uta Gassen, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...
("Red vs White singing contest"), one of the country's most-watched television programs. Popular singers (and singing groups) split into two teams, women in the red team and men in the white, which then alternate while competing for the audience's heart throughout the evening. At around 11:30
pm, the final singer (or group) sings, and the audience and a panel of judges are asked to cast their votes to decide which team sang better. The winning team gets a trophy and "the winners' flag." The program ends at about 11:45
pm. Programming then switches to coverage of midnight celebrations around the country. But that custom is beginning to disappear. Young people are becoming less interested in the Red vs White singing contest. Nowadays, huge
Mixed martial artsMixed martial arts is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground...
events also take place and many people watch those, instead.
Throughout Japan, Shinto shrines prepare
amazakeis a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. It is part of the family of traditional Japanese foods made using that includes miso, soy sauce, and sake....
to pass out to crowds that gather as midnight approaches. Most have a large cast bell (see
bonshō for photos) that is struck once for each of the 108 earthly desires believed to cause human suffering. The bells' tolling straddles the midnight hour, and their deep, low tones reverberate for miles through the crisp night air as they ring out the old year and ring in the new.
Widely unknown even in Japan is the meaning of the word
Ōmisoka. The kanji 晦 written as ミ十 (
mi-so) means 30,
mi-so-ka (Kanji 晦日) refers to the 30th and last day of a month in the ancient lunar calendar. The prefix
Ō (大) makes it a comparative, so it's the last of the last days of the month.
External links