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Japan's
Society
Celebrations
 The
most important holiday in Japan is Shogatsu, the New Year. Most
Japanese will write resolutions for the year to come as well as follow the
tradition of thanking the gods who oversee the harvests and for welcoming
ancestral spirits who protect the family. There are special days for celebration all throughout the year, ranging from
religious (Shinto, Buddhist, Christian) to just fun without any special
significance.
Some of the laid back celebrations include Hanami, which is
simply the viewing of the cherry blossoms and taking a picnic to enjoy
them. Another is the practice of Otoshidama, where children (young and not
so young) are given gifts of money to spend. Some of the more serious
celebrations are those that involve the spirits of ancestors, Haru no higan and
bon are two examples.
Spectacular
celebrations include those that take place in the night during summer.
Various localities will put on magnificent firework displays that light the
summer night (hanabi taikai). On
the other end of the spectrum are parties to view the full moon (chushu no
meigetsu) during the ninth
month of the lunar calendar (Tsukimi).
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Information
provided by the Japanese Embassy
NEW
YEAR
Shogatsu
(New Year)
The
New Year's holidays (Shogatsu) are the most
important of all the annual celebrations. This
holiday is traditionally a time for thanking the
gods (kami) who look over the harvests as well as
for welcoming the spirits of ancestors who protect
their families. To welcome these gods and
spirits, the Japanese have a tradition of hanging
pine branch and bamboo decorations on each sides
of a house's entrance and hanging straw rope
decorations. At the beginning of the year prayers
are said for a rich and bountiful harvest in the
coming years and appreciation is expressed to
these spirits and gods. As with some other
countries, it is typically the time to make new
year's resolutions and plans for the upcoming
year.
During
this time people get in touch with old friends,
acquaintances, and family by sending out greeting
cards (nengajo). In 1998, it was estimated
that 4 billion cards were send out during the New
Year's holidays!
Hatsumode
(First Visits of the Year to Shrines and Temples)
During
the New Year's holidays a family visit to a Shinto
shrine or Buddhist temple is usually on the
agenda. This is when the families pray for
the safety of their family and possessions as well
as to pray for a rich harvest.
Japanese are traditionally to visit a shrine that
is in a "favorable direction" from the
visitor's home. Most people visit the Meiji
Jingu Shrine during this time (approximately 3.45
million in 1998) with the next largest showing at
the kawasaki Haishi Temple in Kanagawa Prefecture
(3.19 million).
Otoshidama
(Present of Money for Children)
Another
tradition is the giving of money to children (otoshidama)
from parents and relatives. For this reason,
many children look forward to the New Year's
holidays! The gift of money for junior and
high school students in recent years has been
about 5,000 to 10,000 yen per gift. This
means that after all the relatives give money, it
can quickly add up to several tens of thousands of
yen for these students.
New
Year Games
With
the popularity of electronic games and other
modern entertainment, the old tradition of flying
kites or spinning tops during the holidays has
lost it's appeal. Some other activities also
included card games that test a person's ability
to recognize poems from Hundred Poems by One
Hundred Poets and a board game similar to
backgammon.
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SPRING
Setsubun
According
to the lunar calendar in use before 1873, in which
the numbering of the months was about one and half
months behind that of the modern solar calendar,
the coming of spring was designated as the third
or fourth day of the second month. Some of
the Setsubun observances that were held on this
day still take place on February 3 or 4, even
though this coincides with the coldest period of
winter. For example, there is the ritual of
opening the doors and windows of houses and
expelling bad luck and evil demons by tossing
beans into the air while saying "fuku wa uchi,
oni wa soto" (fortune in and demons out).
It is also said that one will keep healthy be
eating on this day the number of beans equivalent
to one's age. This was originally an
observance that took place in the imperial court
on the last day of the lunar year to symbolize the
sweeping away of bad spirits and winter cold and
gloom, as well as to welcome the cheer of a new
and bright spring.
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Hina-matsuri
(Doll Festival)
This
is a festival devoted to the young girls in a
family and occurs on March 3rd. It is at
this time that families pray for the health and
happiness of their daughters. A collection
of dolls is displayed on this day with them
wearing traditional court attire. With the
collection is an offering consisting of white
sake, diamond-shaped rice cakes and dry rice cake
pellets along with peach blossoms. Ancient
beliefs about ritual purification are behind the
hina-matsuri observance. It was believed, at
one time, that a person's misdeeds could be washed
away and purified in ritual taking place next to
streams. Paper dolls were later used in the
rituals, and the dolls changed during the Edo
Period (1600-1868) to become the style that is
seen today.
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Haru
no Higan (Vernal Equinox Day)
The
tradition observance of spring higan coincides
with the period of seven days centering on the
spring equinox, around March 21. At this
time, people visit family graves, pay their
respects to the souls of their ancestors, and ask
Buddhist priests to perform sutra-readings in
their honor. A similar observance known as
autumn higan is held during the one-week period
centering on the autumnal equinox, around
September 23.
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Hanami
(Cherry-Blossom Viewing)
Late
March or early April is the time when the cherry
blossoms in Japan begin to bloom. The
Japanese like to have picnics under the cherry
trees, a tradition that has occurred among
commoners since the Edo period.
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Golden
Week
Students
begin the new school year in April, so it can be a
rather stressful time. Since this time coincides
with the beginning of Japan's fiscal year, new
employees typically begin their new jobs now, too.
Since there are many holidays clustered together
at the end of April and beginning of May, many
people take a week or ten days off of work.
As a result, this time is called "Golden
Week" for obvious reasons! It is a time
of beautiful weather and is usually spent
traveling to tourist destinations. Not
surprisingly, this is a time that is notorious for
traffic jams on the expressways and crowds in
trains and airports.
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Children's
Day
This
day comes during Golden Week (see above) and falls
on May 5. It is not actually
"children's day" but "boy's
day" since it is typically a day set aside to
wish for healthy boys and their future success.
The day is filled with fun activities and special
foods like rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo
leaves. Decorations usually consist of cloth
streamers in the shape of carp and dolls dressed
like warriors.
Since
the fifth month and especially the fifth day of
that month was felt to be filled with bad luck,
this celebration was developed as annual ritual
purification. Now iris leaves are placed in
water for boys to bathe in since the leaves are
thought to have the ability to banish evil as well
as have medicinal properties.
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SUMMER
Tanabata
The
first annual observance of simmer is known as
Tanabata, falling on July 7. It is a day
that commemorates a romantic story, first handed
down to Japan's imperial court via China and Korea
and then becoming popular among the common people,
about the once-a-year meeting on a bridge across
the Milky Way of the "cowherd star" and
the "weaving princess star." It was
believed that wishes made on this day would be
fulfilled; in gardens and other places people set
up leaf-bearing bamboo stalks to whose branches
they attached strips of paper on which their
wishes were written.
Today,
Tanabata festivals are celebrated at numerous
places around Japan. Some of the best-known
take place at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto,
the Konpira Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture, and in
the cities of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture and
Takaoka in Toyama Prefecture. Also well know
is the Sendai Tanabata festival in Miyagi
Prefecture, which takes place a month later on
August 7, closer to the time of year when Tanabata
was earllier observed by the lunar calendar.
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Firework
Displays
In
the evenings fireworks are seen throughout Japan,
and are spectacular as it is said that Japan's
firework technology is the world's best.
Since the Edo period, firework technology has been
handed down from generation to generation until
today the displays are controlled by computers as
this enhances their precision and visual effects.
An annual event since the Edo period, Tokyo's
fireworks are displayed along the Sumida River.
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Bon
Bon
is an annual event is considered to be a time of
welcoming and consoling the souls of ancestors.
This event was traditionally observed in the
middle of the seventh month on the lunar calendar,
now it is mostly observed between July 13 and 15
(although some regions celebrate between August 13
and 15). The ancestors' spirits are believed
to visit the home of their descendents at this
time and are greeted with welcoming fires.
As this event draws to a close, seeing off fires
are lit as their ancestors return to the spirit
world. This is another time when people take
off work, especially since many don't work near
their native areas, and the result is more traffic
congestion (as with Golden Week).
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AUTUMN
Tsukimi
(Moon Viewing)
According
to the lunar calendar, the full moon appearing
around the middle of the ninth month was called
the mid-autumn moon and it became a custom to
arrange moon-viewing parties to appreciate its
particular beauty. This was originally a
custom practiced in China, which spread to Japan
in the Heian period (794-1185). Houses were
decorated with eulalia grass and dumplings were
made and offered to the moon together with samples
of crops from the autumn harvest.
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Shichigosan
Three
and five year old boys and girls three and seven
years of age are brought to Shinto shrines on
November 15 to pray for their safety and health.
Tradition has had the boys wear Japanese
half-coats (haori) with divided skirts (hakama),
while the girls wore a kimono, this is becoming a
thing of the past as children are showing up in
dress clothes (suits, dresses). In order to
make known prayers for long life, candies called
chitose-ame are bought. In the home, the
celebration meal consists of rice boiled with red
beans and a sea bream (saltwater fish) prepared
with both the head and tail intact.
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WINTER
Bonenkai
(Year-End Parties)
In
appreciation for hard work or the pretense of
forgetting difficulties or even just to have a
good time, parties occur after the arrival of
December. Young, old, student, employee, it
doesn't matter because this is an all inclusive
occasion for fun and partying usually at the cost
of the attendee. On occasion a company will
pay for the costs incurred at parties for
employees. The parties are usually held in
pubs and restaurants and are known as bonenkai.
Christmas
Christians
and non-Christians alike celebrate Christmas,
albeit with probably different focuses.
Decorated trees, Christmas cakes and the exchange
of gifts are some of the activities that take
place. Children, of course, love this time
of year for the presents and the idea of Santa
Claus bringing them while they sleep.
New
Year's Eve
Buddhist
temples starting ringing their bells 108 times
just before midnight on December 31st as part of
an observance called joya no kane. 108 is
symbolic of the purification of 108 earthly
desires (bonno), then a new year is begun with the
observance of Shogatsu.
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Information
provided by the Japanese Embassy
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