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Friday 15 January 2010

How do Japanese celebrate new year?

This story might be a little bit back dated as we are now in the 2nd week of the new year 2010. But better late than never, aite?. As this is the 2nd new year that I've spent in Japan, I somehow have a slightly better understanding on the tradition of new year celebration in Japan.

Japanese New Year celebration is called shogatsu takes place from January 1-3. New Year's Day on January 1 is called Ganjitsu (元日) and is a Japanese national holiday. People say to each other "ake-mashite-omedetou-gozaimasu" (Happy New Year) *sensei Baby SN wish I cenggini, I nganga je sbb tak tau camne nak jawab balik kui3x*.

Before midnight on New Year's Eve, temples around the country begin to ring bells 108 times called joya-no-kane. It is said that the tolling of the bells purify ourselves of our 108 worldly desires. People say to each other "yoi otoshiwo" which means "Have a nice year passing" on New Year's Eve.

People usually spend New Year's holidays quietly at home eating various food *tak macam kat tempat kita, keluar gi konsert lah, bunga api lah, clubbing lah hohoho*. There is a custom of giving money (otoshidama) to children during New Year's holidays in Japan.

Japanese people eat special dishes called osechi ryori during shogatsu. The foods are colorful and artistically presented. Each dish has a particular meaning. For exampl; prawns for long life, kuromame (sweet black beans) for health, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (teriyaki taste small sardines) for a good harvest, kurikinton (sweet chestnuts and mashed sweet potato) for happiness, and so on. It is also traditional to eat mochi (rice cake) dishes during New Year's holidays. Zouni (rice cake soup) is the most popular mochi dish.

Here are the list of events that my family & I have joined for this 2010 new year celebrations :-

(1) Mochi-tsuki

Since it's traditional for the Japanese to eat rice cake (mochi) during New Year's holidays, mochi-tsuki (pounding of mochi rice) is done at the end of the year. We had another mochitsuki event organized by the management of our international student apartment on 26th Dec 2009 ago. Our first experience with mochi-tsuki can be read in my previous entry : Japanese Rice Cake : Mochi (click).


(2) Hatsumoude at Dazaifu Temangu Shrine

It is traditional for Japanese people to visit (hatsumoude) to a shrine or a temple during New Year's holidays. People pray for safety, health and good fortune. It is not a very religious event but rather a custom. Many well-known temples and shrines are extremely crowded. Some temples and shrines expect a couple million visitors during New Year's holidays each year. Since it is not a religious event, we decided to experience the event by joining the millions of Japanese people at Dazaifu Temangu Shrine on Jan 1, 2010.

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*beratur nak masuk dalam shrine*


Dazaifu Tenmangu, spreading over 3,000 acres, with 6000 plum trees surrounding a tranquil garden. Dazaifu Temangu is well-known of it's Honden (main shrine), Taiko-bashi (bridge) and Shinji-ike (pond) and Shoubu-ike (pond of iris)



According to my labmate, Ueno-kun ; Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine is the shrine where
Michizane Sugawara, God of Academic is worshiped. People from all over Japan visit here to pray for the success in their study. We had the chance to try on one of the specialties of Dazaifu Temangu Shrine known as Umegae-mochi, which is a special rice cake with pasted sweet beans inside. Ume means plum, and it is the simbol of Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine.

*baby SN nak try umegae-mochi*

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*millions of people*


(3) Toka Ebisu Festival
Toka Ebisu shrine is usually quiet but it becomes busy with many visitors during the new year festival called “
Toka Ebisu”, held from January 8th to 11th. It is located inside Higashi Park at Yoshizuka, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City.






Naturally, the enshrined gods of the shrine are
Kotoshironushino-Okami “Ebisu” and Okuninushino-Okami “Daikoku”. Over a million people visit here and wish for the success in business or family prosperity.




During the festival, visitors visit to the shrine and receive bamboo grass, a straw bag, a bamboo rake, a charm, an amulet, a gold coin and other special good luck items, these are all very precious to the Japanese people. The bamboo grass has straight, elastic trunk and leaves. The leaves do not wither quickly and is a symbol of success in business.



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*antara yang di jual di gerai2*


(4) Sejinshiki

Coming of Age day a.k.a hari cukup umur (成人の日 Seijin no Hi) is another Japanese new year event held annually on the second Monday of January. It is held in order to congratulate those who have reached the age of 20 years old , and to encourage them on realizing the fact that they have become adults; meaning that they can now do SDV (Smoke, Drink and Vote) *aiyoyo..bahaya nih ngeeeeeee*.

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*yang meraikan majlis*


Three of Malaysian student who reached the age of 20years old (Gandhi, Sidqi, & Halim) were celebrated in a coming of age ceremonies (成人式 seijin-shiki) held at Uchihama Hall organized by the Fukuoka-Ipoh association.

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*tiga orang dewasa yang di raikan*


We dressed up in Malaysian traditional outfit and bring along several Malaysian traditional food for the Japanese to taste. We enjoy the event by celebrating those 3 "kids" that have been announced as "adult", eating various of delicious foods, playing bingo and dancing. On top of all that, the activity that I enjoy the most is the closing event i.e to perform the Japanese traditional dance *I dah terror tarian ni, siap leh menari sambil dukung baby SN lagi eheh --> berlagak*--> refer : "Dey Machaaa...Matcha wonee!" to watch the video of the dance.


*hubby, baby SN & I are dancing* - nicely captured by Paan : pon boleeyy


To be honest I really enjoy the new year celebration; celebrated here as it is more peaceful, family-friendly, and more pleasant than the celebration that we had back in Malaysia. Even though it is not as happening as having a mass firework, popular concert or countdown event, it surely strengthens the family bonding as well as preparing us to achieve better performance in the new year.


*Malaysian in Fukuoka during Sejinshiki 2010* - captured by Paan : pon boleeyy

# Info's gathered from gojapan, wikipedia & japan hover. #

Psssssttttt : walaupun orang Jepun ni takde agama, tapi cara diorang sambut tahun baru lagi bersopan dan "beriman" dari kita yang ada agama, rindu kan?

29 words of wisdom & comments:

Pija Madzlan said...

oo..diorang ni atheis ek mostly? mmm.....kalau dikenang2 sedih la cara org kita celebrate...menghancurkan diri sendiri saje

Atiqah said...

betol tu kak..kat malaysia ni bila thn bru je maksita pun bertambah..adeh..mcm x de agama je kn..

transformed housewife said...

bagusnyo ogeh2 Jepun ni sambut thn baru lagu tu.

Hanz Jamaludin said...

bestnyer dapat infos culture of others. enjoy this post & infos!

errrmmmm...Malaysian pun patut buat camnikan...just omit yg beliefs part tu...aman & close-knit celebrate New Year!

AyuArjuna BiGoshh said...

memang beza cara masyarakat jepun menyambut tahun baru...unik sesangat..orang malaysia sekarang dah ala kebaratan konsert sana-sini memanjangnya...

Ummu Ammar said...

Thanks sudi kongsi info ni..as usuall akak mmg suka Jepun..dan budayanya yg tersendiri..diaorg x heran sgt dgn budaya barat tu..x mcm org kita..

firahadifa said...

memang menarik yatie...

** Perfect Love ** said...

tgk pun dah tertarik... itulah pengalaman di negara org kan. mcm2 benda baru kita dpt lalui ;-)

~Eila Nur Kaseh~ said...

wahh beshnya..untung baby SN..kecik2 dah diajar macam2..dah besar sok bila die baca entry ni..sure die rase bangga kan...bagusla yatie..

Jiey^Mien said...

Bstnyo baby SN leh meraso budayo ore jepun..
=)

*∽ IZAN ∽* said...

wah wahhh.. memang serba meriahh!!

Nurul Izza said...

YC; sedaknyo hok ado stroberi tuh.huhu nihon meme kayo dnge dessrt comey2.huhu jeles i tau..;))

mygoldpen said...

i love japanase..sukela bace entri2 yatie psl nihon ni.. :)

mygoldpen said...

i love japanase..sukela bace entri2 yatie psl nihon ni.. :)

Nadiah Sidek said...

banyaknya new year event kat jepun! tapi memang respect la cara diorang sambut new year. jauh bezanya dengan malaysia yang asyik sangat nak tiru budaya barat yang entah apa2..huhu. cara jepun ni tak nak pulak diikutnya

Nani~~{@ said...

bestnye baby SN celebrate new year ya:)
kat Oman langsung x terasa..even firework or etc even lgsung takde..emm..best lg kat Jepun..tq for sharing yatiey chomel;)

tiey said...

bagusnye smbt new yr gitu...xdek la terkinja2 dlm club, merempit sume tuh ek...

nadnye said...

seronok Yati and family,pengalaman baru baru betul adat timur

Anonymous said...

makan mochi jgn sampai tercekik lak..ingat2 la we all kat melben ni..hahhaa..meh hantar skit..

sanggup tu beratur panjang2 visit shrine..kalo beta, pengsan dah...

yatie chomeyl said...

siti sifir >> aah diorg mmg xde agama, tp still diorg bpegang pd adat budaya..jd x teruk sgt lah perangai

atiqah >> tu la, sedih plak nk ngaku negara islam kan?

k.nur >> yup, very family-type celebration kan?

Hanz >> yup, agree with u. ni tak, kecoh smbut thn baru siap bergaduh bertumbuk2 lg huhuhu

yatie chomeyl said...

ayu >> aah, agaknya klu tak wat konsert tu...camne la reaksi org kita erk?

ummu Ammar >> btol2x, wpon negara diorg maju tp ttp berpegang pd budaya

firahadifa >> btul2x, best sgt

**perfect love** >>aah, klu x dtg sini, x tau pasal semua ni kan? :)

yatie chomeyl said...

eila >> bila baby SN dh besar nti, tak yah susah 2cite kat dia dah..suruh dia baca blog je eheh

jiey >> baby SN x pehe go sekaro lg, mommy & daddy hok lebih2 sokmo ngeee

k.izan >> meriah tp tak melalaikan ;)

izza >> meme la, nok make pon sero x sapa hati, sbb comey terlajok hheehe

yatie chomeyl said...

mygoldenpen>> suke ye?ok,nti yatie tulis lg entry pasal ni byk2 ngeee

nadiah >> takpe, nti i blk msia, i smbut new year cara jepun ni eheh

nani >> ooo, langsung takde pulak ye? hik3x tak best gak eh klu x terasa apa2

tiey >> btol3x, tepatttt sekali

yatie chomeyl said...

nadnye >> aah dasar pandang ke timur gitu hehe

mama miya >> i x masuk pon kat shrine, amik gmbr kat luar je dgn suasana org ramai2 tu..tak kuasa la nyah nk beratur dgn berjuta2 manusia tu hehe

Unknown said...

yatie kat dai mane ek?
kitorang (akak) selalu shucchou ke panasonic tu tp sangt2 jarang jumpa ngan org mesia...
dazaifu adalah acara wajib setiap kali gi... heheheh

Hamizah said...

bagusnya mereka ni..org kita dah terlebih barat drp org2 barat sebenarnya..

Unknown said...

Seronok tengok you dapat pegi sana sini & experience macamana rakyat negara lain menyambut berbagai2 acara..
Sejak bertunang dulu,I dah malas nak keluar2 i.e tengok konsert ke clubbing ke..so new year pun jarang nya sambut. Dok rumah je. Lagi aman he hee.. :)

yatie chomeyl said...

laila >> yatie kat kyudai. umah kat imajuku. lenkali kalau dtg sini, jgn lupa contact yatie tau ;)

k.hamizah >> btul2x, org kita sibuk2 nk jd org barat

SOHO mama >> tu la..dpt gak merasa culture diorg yang penuh adat istiadat ketimuran ni :)

鯛魚燒Star said...
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