New Year in Japan - is an annual festival with its own customs.This holiday is celebrated since 1873 in the Gregorian calendar January 1 of each year.
tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan
Photo kadomatsu (traditional New Year's decorations) presented just above.At the beginning of each year in Japan, one can observe a lot of tradition.For example, the entrance to the homes and shops are decorated with pine and bamboo decorations and braided straw ropes shimenawa (the origins of this custom - the religion of Shinto).At this time, the Japanese cook and eat mochi rice cakes and soft oseti-ryori.This is a traditional food, which they associate with the holiday.The tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan include the rituals of thanksgiving for a good harvest, which evolved over the centuries by peasants, mostly employed in agriculture, as well as ancient religious ceremony.All this has a special meaning.
see off the old year.The tradition of the New Year in Japan
Pictures and huge posters and kites can be found in many shopping centers (see photo).No doubt, on December 31 - is a very important day for the Japanese.It is not surprising that many people on the occasion do not sleep all night.There are still many traditions of celebrating the New Year in Japan, but the most famous custom dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868).This preparation buckwheat noodles (soba).December 31 Japanese eat this product at lunch or in the evening as a light snack, so that their life was as long as the noodles are thin and long.However, there are soba after midnight considered a bad omen, as the Japanese believe that it can bring bad luck to the house.With the approach of the New Year around the air is filled with the sound of church bells that ring 108 times in the last moments of the passing day.One explanation peal - the renunciation of 108 human desires and passions.In some temples, ordinary people are allowed to take part in this ceremony.
first rays of the sun - the first prayer in the new year
In Japan, it is believed that the first rays of the rising sun on the first day of the new year have magical powers.Prayer at this time - a special phenomenon, and it is very popular from the time of the Meiji era (1868-1912).Even today, a crowd of people climbing to the tops of mountains or seashores, clearly visible from sunrise to pray for health and family well-being in the new year.Another custom that has been preserved until now - visit the temple or church.Even those people who do not usually go to church or churches in the New Year allocate time to pray for health and a happy family life.For women, it is also a unique opportunity to put on the bright colorful kimonos, and the atmosphere becomes more festive.
gala ceremony
tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan continues to beautify the city "inside and outside".For a few days after Christmas, the doors to buildings and shops in Japan, decorated with pine branches and bamboo.This custom is carried out for the glory of Shinto gods, because, according to legend, the spirits of the gods lived in trees.In addition, the decoration made of pine that remains green even in winter, and bamboo, which grows quickly and straight, symbolizing strength, which helps to overcome many adversities.Log in ordinary houses decorated wicker straw rope shimenawa.This symbolizes the fact that the house is clean and free to welcome the spirits and gods.
Traditional
After otzvenyat Christmas bells and will be made the first visit to a temple or church, many people are returning home to enjoy a traditional meal in the family circle.Such food is called for-battle.Initially, these courses were intended for offerings to the gods of Shinto, but it is also a "happy meal", bringing in family welfare.Each of the ingredients is of particular importance, and dishes are prepared so that they could stay fresh and not spoiled during all the Christmas holidays, which last about a week.
Moti
Another tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan - cooking rice mochi.Steamed glutinous rice is placed in a wooden container, similar to the basket.One person fills it with water, and the other has a large wooden mallet.After mashing rice forms a sticky white mass.Mochi is prepared in advance, before the New Year, and eat in early January.
Postcards
Late December and early January - the most stressful time for the Japanese postal services.In Japan there is a tradition of sending greeting Christmas cards to friends and family, similar to the Western custom of giving them for Christmas.Their original purpose was to give your distant friends and relatives news of yourself and your family.In other words, the custom existed to tell those people you see often, that you are alive and well.The Japanese are trying to send a greeting card so that they arrive on January 1st.Employees of postal services guarantee that the greeting cards will be delivered precisely on 1 January if they were sent to the mid- to late December and marked with the word nengajō.To deliver all the messages on time, postal services usually hire students for part-time work.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with choral accompaniment - Christmas season tradition in Japan.So, in December 2009 in Japan this work was presented in 55 cases leading orchestras.
Books about the New Year in Japan
Now you can find a lot of books and articles about the tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan in English, Russian, Japanese, French, German and other languages.The country of the rising sun has always been of interest for their originality and uniqueness.So, the book reveals the tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan, in English under the title The Japanese New Year's festival, games and pastimes author Helen Cowen Gunsaulus contains a small volume, but quite capacious sketch of this vast subject.Those who are fluent in foreign languages, will be interesting to look at the world of Japanese culture through the eyes of a resident of America or any other country.Recommended book immerses the reader into the world of the tradition of celebrating the New Year in Japan in English.With the transfer is available online in digital libraries.This theme is quite interesting and extensive.Better yet, take a trip to Japan and experience firsthand as a high-tech industrial country with a huge metropolis with skyscrapers, and on a holiday like a return to the past, a tribute to traditions.This is a truly unique phenomenon in modern culture.
