Today is New Year’s Day!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Years.  Today’s post is going to focus on learning some phrases for the New Year.  For starters, let’s look at the word, shoogatsu (しょうがつ).  Shoogatsu (しょうがつ) means New Years in Japanese.  New Years celebrations are one of the biggest and most anticipated holidays in Japan.  Depending on the family, New Years celebrations can last an entire week.  The term shoogatsu (しょうがつ) is used to refer to the week in which the New Year is celebrated.  New Years Day however, as in January first, is referred to as ganjitsu (がんじつ).  Ganjitsu (がんじつ) is only for New Years Day.  If you continue to celebrate the New Year after January first, then you would use the term shoogatsu (しょうがつ) instead.

All over the world, you’ll hear people use the greeting, ‘Happy New Year’ as a common way to greet each other on New Years.  Japanese people are no different.  ‘Happy New Year’ in Japanese is akemashite omedetoo gozaimas (あけましておめでとうございます).  Yeah I know, it’s a mouthful and it’s also used in formal situations.  If you want to say ‘Happy New Year’ in a short, slangy way, you’d say it like this: ake o me (あけおめ).  Just take the ake (あけ) in akemashite (あけまして) and the ome (おめ) in omedetoo (おめでとう), and you’ll get the shortened version of the phrase ‘Happy New Year.’

Here’s another New Years greeting that you might like: yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai (よいおよしをおむかえください).  Translated into English, it means ‘Have a Happy New Year.’  There’s a subtle difference between the term akemashite omedetoo gozaimas (あけましておめでとうございます) and the term yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai (よいおよしをおむかえください).  Akemashite omedetoo gozaimas (あけましておめでとうございます) means ‘Happy New Year’ while yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai (よいおよしをおむかえください) means Have a Happy New Year.  Again, if you want the slangy or shortened version of yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai (よいおよしをおむかえください) you get: yoi otoshi (よいおとし).

Here’s one more greeting that you might want to use: kotoshi mo doozo yoroshiku onegai shimas (ことしもどうぞよろしくおねがいします).  This greeting is distinctly Japanese.  It means, ‘Please be kind to me this year too.’  When would you use this greeting?  It would probably be used towards your boss, co-workers or anyone that you expect you will need to rely on for the coming year.  This greeting works in two ways or rather has two purposes.  First, it’s thanking someone for their kindness this past year.  Second, it’s indirectly asking someone for his/her continued support or guidance for this coming year.  Very convenient isn’t it?  If you think you might forget how to say this word, here’s the short way to say it without changing the meaning: kotoyoro (ことよろ).

Ok, everyone, gotta go, but I’ll be back with some more details about New Years in Japan very soon!