Oshoogatsu, January 1stOshoogatsu is defined in English is New Years Day.
It is significant because it is the start of a new fresh year. Certain types of food each symbolises something. For example, red and white colours in food, represent luck. The same occurs with decorations. Japanese houses are decorated with new year ornaments. At the gate or door, Japanese houses have a pair of bamboo/pine leaves. As pine leaves are green, they are recognised as a lucky charm. The reason why they do this is because they are setting a sign for the New Year God to come down from the sky. Japanese people have to be well prepared to receive a new year. It's not ideal to set up the decorations on the 31st of December because it's considered as bad luck. It's also bad luck to do it on the 29th of December because, the number 9 sounds like "suffer" in Japanese and the number 9 is a bad luck number, so it's best to do it on the 28th of December. It is then common to take down the decorations on the 7th of January. Children receive money from their parents and relatives during this time. As time gets closer for the new year, families go to local shrines and prayed for a good year. The festival has multiple events including taiko drumming, lion dancing, writing calligraphy and much more. At home, traditional games are also played like, a card game and kite flying to name a couple. By Shirene Oshoogatsu is a New Years celebration in Japan celebrated from December 30th to January 3rd. It is one of the most important Japanese celebrations as it is the time when people go to shrines and temples to pray for a happy and healthy year. Some temples and shrines attract about several million people over the three days and when it hits midnight, large temple bells are rung.
Most businesses shut down during the time of the celebration and schools close for two weeks. Homes and entrance gates are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees and there clothes and houses are cleaned. People send out about several dozen cards to family, relatives and co-workers. Family members who have moved away come home to celebrate with their family. Special meals such as boiled beans, broiled fish, sliced vegetables and seafood dressed with sweet vinegar are served during this significant celebration. By Kaitlyn |
Traditional Food For The New Year
Ozoni is a traditional Japanese soup made with mochi (rice cake) in it that you eat in the morning on New Year’s Day. The house is decorated with mochi for the New Year, and people eat it to celebrate and hope for a good year.
One of the traditional foods of Oshogatsu is called Mochi soup. It's a type of food that has daikon radish, dashi (a type of liquid used like stock), carrot, kamboko( processed seafood, fish pureed), soy sauce, salt, sake( an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice), mochi ( A very glutinous rice cake) and mitsuba. Another Japanese tradition is to eat rice dough with hot sweet red bean poured on top. There is a ceremony where you put steamed rice into a large mortar and mallets are used to pound it until it is like dough. Osechi Ryoori - traditional food for the New Year
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