JAPANESE NEW YEAR AND THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW?

New Year's Day in Japan, Traditional New Year's Day in Japan, New Year's Eve in Japan, Going to the Temple on New Year's Day, Japanese New Year's Day, Japanese New Year's Lucky Money, New Year's Food. Vietnam and Japan have officially established diplomatic relations for a long time. In recent years, Japanese companies have continuously invested in Vietnam. In contrast, the number of Vietnamese students and workers in Japan has increased rapidly. Therefore, learning about each other's cultures will contribute to promoting the relationship between the two countries in both depth and breadth.

Along with the development of science and technology, as well as the integration of Western culture, Japan is rising up, leading the world in all aspects. However, this country still maintains its traditional beauty, typically the customs of Tet. Let's learn a little about the culture of Tet in Japan through the article below.

New Year's Day in Japan, Traditional New Year's Day in Japan, New Year's Eve in Japan, Going to the Temple on New Year's Day, Japanese New Year's Day, Japanese New Year's Lucky Money, New Year's Food. Vietnam and Japan have officially established diplomatic relations for a long time. In recent years, Japanese companies have continuously invested in Vietnam. In contrast, the number of Vietnamese students and workers in Japan has increased rapidly. Therefore, learning about each other's cultures will contribute to promoting the relationship between the two countries in both depth and breadth.

New Year's Day in Japanese is お正月・おしょうがつ, Oshougatsu, Sino-Vietnamese reading is Chinh Nguyet. Traditional New Year originates from the custom of welcoming the New Year god Toshigami Sama, this is the god who symbolizes health, luck and fortune. Similar to Vietnam, Japan used to have a traditional New Year according to the lunar calendar. However, to prioritize economic development, Japan officially abandoned the lunar New Year and switched to the solar New Year. That is, the first day of the solar calendar. But no matter what, New Year is always an anticipated holiday for Japanese people. This is the time of family reunion that can be said to be the happiest of the year.

Omisoka is the phrase referring to December 31. At this time, markets and shopping centers are quite crowded and bustling. However, a few days before that, we can also feel the atmosphere of Tet through some of the following activities. To have a warm Tet as well as the atmosphere for the upcoming new year, houses, schools and offices will conduct a general cleaning. In the past, they often did it on December 12, and this day was called Susuharai. However, due to the busyness of work, nowadays, the cleaning can be done on the last day of December. Currently, there are still shrines and temples that do cleaning on this sacred 13th day. 

After cleaning, Japanese people will decorate their houses to welcome the New Year god Toshigami Sama. The good days to decorate the house are the 28th or the 30th. Absolutely avoid doing it on the 29th. The reason is quite simple, because the number 2 means twice, the number 2 in Japanese is read as Ku, in the word Kurushi it means suffering. The three items that are often decorated during the New Year are

• Kagami mochi: This is a tray of rice cakes, decorated with an orange on top, which is the residence of the gods when they visit the house. Therefore, kagami mochi is always placed in the most solemn place of the house. You can also consider it as the Vietnamese fruit tray.
• Kadomatsu: Decorated with three crossed bamboo trees, surrounded by pine branches. Kadomatsu is often placed in front of the house or company entrance, symbolizing a prosperous new year and all good things. 
• Shimekazari: A circle usually wrapped in straw, hung at the entrance with the wish to ward off evil spirits.