大晦日 Omisoka おおみそか：Deceber 31st is the day that divides a past year and a new coming year. Everything starts new next day January 1.
It is a very important day for me and the Japanese people in general. These two days still keep Japanese tradition. I have realized new year’s day is as important for me as Christmas or Thanksgiving for the American people I have known. People spend time, money, and energy and have a very special feeling.
Everyone has his/her own special days. religious or traditional. As a Japanese, I must do a few things to do at the end of a year.
1. Big cleaning Oosouji 大掃除
Literally big cleaning whole a house. behind the shelf. beneath a bed. inside of the refrigerator. No dust, no trash. Clear windows. In the magazine of December, you can find articles on how to clean your house with less time. They recommend planning and starting Osiji earlier and clean little by little. If you Osoji finished earlier, you don’t have to worry.
WhenI was young, I did clean my room. desk, drawers, and help with cleaning windows before 31st. I had full of free time.
2 Prepare for Osechi; new year celebration traditional dish
Also, they show how to cook or prepare Osetchi, which is a special dish for the celebration of the new year. Ingredients and food have represented wishes and reasons to be used for a celebration. For example, Lotus has wholes so we can see the future. Also, they are mainly boiled or baked so they can be preserved for a few days. Osechi enables them to save cooking time for women and they can take more free time.
Changes are big in cooking Ouchi
These days they can order Osechi from a supermarket, department store, and even from expensive Japanese restaurants or hotels. They look so beautiful. Osechi is very Japanese but for younger people more variations like Western-style or Chinese style. It’s funny because Osechi is a traditional Japanese dish it allows us to add and enjoy foreign tastes. Japanese are very flexible to adapt and change for their convenience.
That’s the Japanese way of thinking. maybe culture!
3. Watch TV
NHK Kohaku Uta Gassenused to be a very popular TV program. It’s a music show very popular female singers and male singers make two teams. Red for female singers and white for male singers. Kohaku means Red and White. There are judges and the two teams compete.
The NHK tries hard to attract as much audience. It was the most popular program of the day but now there are many different TV programs and other entertainments.
elect popular singers of the year from different generations.
4 Listen to the 108 gongs of a temple over midnight.
It’s from Buddhism. Everybody has 108 worries, troubles, suffering, and flaws, even though he? she looks perfect. While listening to the gong, each worry disappears and our minds can be clear up for a new year.
5 Eat Toshikoshi Soba (noodle)
It is proper to eat Toshikochi soba (noddles) listening to the gong. Soban is a long and skinny noodle. We wish our life could be long and skinny, which means nothing happens, not having trouble, and living long peacefully.
That’s Japanese culture of mine!
In my family, Ikebana and offering flowers to Buddhist portable shrines and Shinto altar. At the gate or entrance, new year decorations.
They mean a welcome new year with total cleanliness and purity.