Happy New Year!
I hope you had a good start in the new year 2017. Mine was certainly exciting! Japanese people love to celebrate, and especially this most important time of year gives a lot of opportunities to gather and spend a good time with family and friends.
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| Illuminated train station on New Year's eve - getting used to everything constantly open in Japan, this special night seemed extraordinarily quiet. For the most Japanese, the holidays will last for two more days |
Saying goodbye
A few weeks ago, it was the last time for us to participate in a bojutsu training session for the year (that is, until February when the regular schedule starts again). Because some of the members were graduating and quit the club, including some of the leaders, this training was especially important and almost everyone came, so we were a big circle of maybe 30 people. This 3-hour training was particularly hard - not only due to the length: When we started at 1pm, the sun was still burning hot and made it hard to move on, but as soon as it set at 4pm, everyone was freezing. That's December weather in Tokyo!
The parting with some of the members included a few rituals such as presents and party pops. But the most hilarious thing was this: The leader had to stand in the middle of the field, all of us surrounding him, our fists ready for attack. Then, at a signal, everyone ran towards him yelling and trying to hit him, while he had to dodge and fend every punch. Unbelievable, but he succeeded!
At the end, we also had to practice and show a small performance of techniques with a partner. Enjoy watching me fail:
Why am I telling you all this? It's because after the training, the members gathered together in an American bar for a very Japanese cultural event: A drinking party called nomikai. This is usually all-you-can-eat and -drink event, where everyone shares the food on the table and orders whichever drink they like. If you are new to the group, it's a great opportunity to meet most of the people in a cheerful atmosphere. This goes on for around 2 hours, after which there is a possibility to move on to a next place - and drink some more.
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| Part of our jolly group - don't we have adorable reindeer horns? |
A special kind of nomikai is held around New Year and is called bounenkai. It is usually the last time you see your colleagues and friends before New Year's eve and want to ring out the old year together. I took part in two bounenkai: One held by a Science and Technology faculty laboratory (one where I would like to do research - but more on that another time), and once again one by our bojutsu club. This time, just 8 people attended, which gave us the opportunity to talk a bit more and use our (still poor) Japanese language skills. While doing this, we ate a looot of okonomiyaki and drank delicious matcha milk.
Inviting the good luck in
But once the last day of the year has come, what do Japanese usually do? Like Christmas for us, it's mostly a family celebration, although some also go out with their friends or see fireworks in big and famous places. Most people visit a shrine or temple to pray for a good year. Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times at midnight: Once for every earthly desire or sin, from which the good buddhist seeks to refrain.
What I liked best about the time between Christmas and New Year were the decorations. There are these traditional bamboo or pine arrangements called kadomatsu, which serve the purpose of greeting the Shinto New Year's gods. They have three elements: One for wealth, persistence and a long life respectfully.
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| Bamboo kadomatsu at a store entrance |
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| Pine kadomatsu at the Kasuga Shrine near the campus |
Because this year is the year of the rooster in Chinese calendar, everything edible and non-edible is decorated with chickens:
The white things you may have noticed in the previous picture are called kagami mochi. These are two mochi on each other, topped by a clementine or a daidai, a Japanese bitter orange. Like all Japanese New Year food, they have a special meaning. Kagami mochi symbolise the two opposites - the old and new year, sun and moon, yin and yang...
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| I bought and built my own kagami mochi - the packaging says I can eat it on the 11th ;) |
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| Beautiful kagami mochi in a restaurant |
The rest of the Japanese New Year food is called osechi. Most of it comes in small portions in a kind of big bento box, or in the form of soba noodles. You better start to eat those early: It is said that you have to eat your soba before midnight, otherwise the new year will be unlucky!
Celebrating like the Japanese?
How we spent New Year's Eve - or oshogatsu in Japanese -, however, was not in a typical Japanese way. Although we expected it to be, when Alizée's friend Shousuke invited both of us to a party hosted by his family in their house. When we arrived, we were greeted by dozens of people and three dogs - and there were more constantly coming in. Our concern that we would be the only foreigners was quickly dissolved, with many guests from America, Germany, Taiwan and other countries. Although not many people knew each other, everyone was very nice and open, so it was not difficult to chat and make new contacts. And I got to know some very friendly and interesting people whom I would like to see again.
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| Full table with deer that a friend of the family has hunted herself - it is apperently very rare in Japan, so everyone was excited |
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| Sooo much to eat... |
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| ...and even more to drink (this is only a selection of the variety) |
As soon as the clock struck twelve, everyone raised their glasses to kampai - cheer - to the New Year.
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| Many Japanese watch a musical competition show on TV waiting for the countdown - after midnight, it's boybands and talk shows |
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| A very own private musical performance! |
Shousuke's family organised the whole event and I was amazed by their hospitality - not everyone would welcome around 50 drunk strangers messing up their house. I felt a bit sorry for his mom, constantly running around, offering meals and drinks and making everyone's stay comfortable, although we tried our best to help her keep the place in order. With a majority of Japanese people, however, there was no need to worry too much - and so everyone parted in good terms and a cheerful mood. Thank you all for this unforgettable night!
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| Can you spot me? Hint: I am looking away at the wrong time ;) |
Back home, I stayed up until the morning to greet my family just in time when the New Year had arrived for them as well. Meanwhile, I could watch the first sunrise of the new year, which is said to be a lucky thing to do.
Tomorrow, a new big adventure is waiting for me: Alizée, Tharshi and I are flying to Hokkaido to spend one week in a winter wonderland. I am already excited to tell you about it. Until then - enjoy the beginning of the new year and let it be full of joy, love, big achievements and new discoveries!
