Maeve’s New Year Experience in Japan

The New Year or Shōgatsu is probably Japan’s most important holiday. Many Japanese businesses close during so people can spend time with their families. The Japanese have a way of celebrating the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. Join KCP Summer 2022 Student Maeve  Hillengas as she shares her New Year experience in Japan!

Maeve in her own words…

“There are two types of New Years, the Occidental and the Lunar New Year. Of these, Japan participates in both, though to varying degrees. In the Meiji Period Japan adopted more of the Gregorian Calendar, thus causing the Lunar New Year to start fading from Japanese life. Though you can still find traces of it as well as some celebrations like the fifteen day celebration in Yokohama for the Chinese Lunar New Year, complete with lion dancing and lanterns.

This year, I went to the Meiji-Jingu; Meiji Shrine. Traditionally, many Japanese people will go to the shrines at midnight and make their prayers for the new year. However this will continue into the following day. I went the day of new year with friends. We met at the Harajuku Station and it took just over two hours to get from the station to the Shrine due to the sheer amount of people participating in this tradition.

Many Japanese households will put up kadomatsu, a traditional decoration made of bamboo and pine. There are also many street food stalls! I was happy to have eaten toshikoshi soba with my friends before the new year. It is an old Japanese tradition said to bring long life and prosperity in the year ahead.”