The New Year (
oshogatsu) is the most celebrated holiday in Japan. Most businesses
close for a few days, families get together, and trains run all night to accommodate
the many festivities. Merriment surrounds this time of year -– houses are
cleaned, homes and entrance gates are adorned with decorations of pine and bamboo
(
kadomatsu)
, and people prepare to start a fresh new year
with “year forgetting parties” (
bonenkai), held prior to the new year with the purpose of leaving behind
the previous year’s troubles. The JASGP had a
bonenkai of its own -– the
Year-End Karaoke Party held at Fuji Mountain Restaurant in
the beginning of December -– and drew a full house eager to sing away the worries
of the old year, Japanese-style.
Osechi-Ryori
Traditional New Years cuisine
NHK's Annual
Kouhaku Uta Gassen
Oshogatsu commonly refers to the first 3 days or first week
of January, the time during which the New Year is most celebrated. A range of
traditional customs are still observed -– special foods such as year-crossing
noodles (
toshikoshisoba), osechi-ryori (various
foods served in special lacquered boxes), sweetened
rice wine (
otoso), and
mochi soup (
ozoni) are served, and on New Year’s Eve
temple bells are rung to push out the old year.
Over the past fifty years,
a new New Year’s Eve tradition has risen to immense popularity -– for four hours
prior to midnight, viewers tune into NHK’s annual music show
Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Literally "Red
and White Song Battle," the program divides the year’s most popular mainstream
music entertainers by gender into competing teams of red and white. Both teams
of at least 25 performers each perform select songs and are then judged by the
viewer audience and a panel of judges. This year’s
Kouhaku featured among others artists Morning Musume, Leah Dizon, Ayumi
Hamasaki, and Mika Nakashima on the red team, and Gackt, Ken Hirai, SMAP, and Porno
Graffiti on the white team. A darkened Tokyo Tower
was illuminated in blue-white light to reveal the white team as the winners.
The show ends shortly before midnight when which point NHK begins airing various New Years greetings from around the nation, as is also popular in American broadcasting. Check out the links below for more information about
oshogatsu.
Guide to
Visiting Japan During the New Year
Wikipedia: Japanese New Year
Wikipedia: 58th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen - Details and Performance Listing
58th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen YouTube Videos
