New Years is a BIG deal here... a REALLY BIG deal!!!!!! Japan definitely wins the award for world's most holidays in a year ranging from "Culture Day," "Respect for the Aged Day," and "Health and Sports Day" among many others!!! New Years takes the cake though as it is the most important to the Japanese! There are many customs, traditions, and foods that are eaten during this special time of year here in Japan.
The Japanese consider December 31 a very important day, and it is not unusual for people to stay up all night. Old customs related to the last day of the year continue in many regions of Japan, but one of the most popular is eating soba buckwheat noodles. People eat soba on December 31, either for dinner or as an evening snack, to wish for a life that’s as long as the long, skinny noodles they’re eating. Eating soba past midnight, however, is to be avoided as this is believed to bring bad luck. Good to know!!!!! 
At midnight you can hear the bells from the Buddhist temples ringing 108 times... if you remember me discussing this in my blog from my Mt. Fuji trip... if not, the 108 represent the number of earthly temptations we must overcome to all reach nirvana! The bells are rung as the old year fades out and the new year enters. In Japan, sunrise on New Year’s Day is believed to have special supernatural powers, and praying to the first sunrise of the year has become a popular practice and crowds gather on mountaintops or beaches with good views of the sunrise to pray for health and family wellbeing in the new year. It is very common for people to go to the shrines and temples on New Year's Day. Many get dressed in kimono and go with their entire families. Some of the bigger shrines like the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo will get hundreds of thousands of visitors on New Years!!! 
A few days after Christmas, the entrances to many Japanese homes and stores are decorated with a pine and bamboo "kadomatsu." This decoration is prepared to welcome the Shinto gods and comes from the belief that the god spirits reside in trees. The display of pine, which stays green even in winter, and bamboo, which grows quickly and is super straight, represents the desire to obtain virtue and strength to overcome adversity. I love the symbolism in everything here!!!
Entrances to some of the homes are also decorated with a "shimenawa" braided straw rope. Like the kadomatsu, it signifies that the home has been purified in order to welcome the gods. After going to the temples, families head home and eat a traditional meal of foods they consider "lucky." These foods are though to bring happiness to their family. This New Year's celebration can last nearly a week and many businesses/stores are closed and most people have a few days off! Another big thing that happens on January 2nd here is the Imperial Palace in Tokyo opens up the grounds to the public... tempting as it is to go, the thought of the crowd makes me cringe. On this day the Emperor and Empress and the Royal family make an appearance which is a HUGE deal and obviously draws quite a crowd. They come out of the palace and receive the New Year greeting from the people. Maybe next year I'll be brave enough to go check it out...Tentative NYE plans: Tokyo bound!!!! Stay tuned for the next chapter: NYE Tokyo: Unleashed! hahaha
Japanese Phrase of the Day:
akemashite o-medetÅ-gozaimasu (ah-kay-mosh-tay o-med-etto go-zai-moss): Happy New Year!!!!!!!
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