Japanese New Year is very busy. People clean their house or go to shopping to prepare the special foods that are called Osechi on Omisoka that is the day of New Year’s Eve. After finishing preparing, most of the people eat Toshikosisoba. It is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour and origin is said that people hope to live long and thin. The 108 bells that are called Joyanokane and it rings out the old year and rings in the New Year. 108 is the number of worldly desires. People confess the crime that made during one year and renounce worldly desires by hearing the bell.
In the morning on January 1st, people receive Nengajyou that are written compliments of New Year, and usually eat Ozoni that rice cake and greens put in soup. Family usually gathers to their hometown and they eat Osechi for lunch or dinner together. Most of the people go to shrine to pray for safety, happiness or something between January 1st and January 3rd, and buy a good luck talisman, Omamori that is a protection from illness, accidents and disasters.Click here and see the blog about Japanese New Year
