New Year's and Christmas in Japan

Fushimi Shrine

This year, many Japanese had vacation from December 29, 2017 to January 8, 2018. School vacation began on the 26th December. Christmas is not a holiday. Children go to school on December 25th. They don't work on the last day before vacation. Teachers give every student a report card (A for Japanese, C for math, B for sports, etc.) and the principal makes a speech to  wish them a good and healthy vacation. Children clean their classroom by themselves.

Japanese children receive Christmas presents, but not adults. Not all family members send presents to children. The most important family reunion is New Year's. On the first day of the year, children receive money from their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Not many years ago, shops were closed on New Year's. Foreigners, who believed Japanese stores operated 365 days a year, were starving for something to buy. Nowadays, "convenience stores" are open 24/7 in all the major cities. 

New Year's in Japan begins at 12:00 a.m. on January 1st, and not before. On the night of December 31st, there is no feast. We eat buckwheat noodles called soba, different from ramen. We hope to live long like noodles which are long! (Buckwheat is known for its benefit to lower your blood pressure... if you are not allergic to it.)

At the end of the year, we clean the entire house to invite the good fortune of the coming year into our lives. Traditionally, a New Year's feast consists of food that keeps many days, so that housewives don't need to work from the beginning of the year.

Throughout Japan, temples ring their bells 108 times at midnight on New Year's eve. But nowadays some neighbors complain about the noise and there are temples that refrain from ringing.

Many Japanese visit a shrine or a temple on the first of the year. Others stay at home to avoid the crowds, and still others get out of the cities altogether and go skiing.