{"id":31,"date":"2008-12-23T01:03:33","date_gmt":"2008-12-23T05:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=31"},"modified":"2018-07-27T18:09:54","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:09:54","slug":"new-years-eve-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/new-years-eve-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Culture: New Year’s Eve in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This December 31st will be a busy day all over Japan.\u00a0 New Year’s Eve is called Oomisoka (\u5927\u6666\u65e5<\/strong><\/span>) in Japanese.\u00a0 Towards the end of the year many companies will hold office parties called boonenkai (\u307c\u3046\u306d\u3093\u304b\u3044<\/strong>).\u00a0 Boonenkai (\u307c\u3046\u306d\u3093\u304b\u3044<\/strong>) can be translated as ‘end-of-the-year party.’\u00a0 Many employees will present an oseibo (\u304a\u305b\u3044\u307c<\/strong>) or an end of the year gift for their boss.\u00a0 Oseibos (\u304a\u305b\u3044\u307c<\/strong>) are usually wrapped in a thin tissue paper called noshigami (\u306e\u3057\u304c\u307f<\/strong>).\u00a0 Oseibos (\u304a\u305b\u3044\u307c<\/strong>) are obligatory gifts.\u00a0 Technically speaking you don’t have to give a gift for your boss, but it’s a good idea to prepare one.\u00a0 Number one, you don’t want to offend your boss and start the new year with bad feelings.\u00a0 Number two, who knows, you might get that promotion you’ve always wanted.\u00a0 For a lot of employees, it’s a good opportunity to suck up to the boss with an expensive bottle of wine.<\/p>\n

New Year’s Eve is also the day companies do their oosooji (\u5927\u6383\u9664<\/strong>).\u00a0 Oosooji (\u5927\u6383\u9664<\/strong>) is a term used to describe a thorough cleaning of the entire place.\u00a0 It’s a day when employees clean out their desk, get rid of old (or suspicious) documents, clean out files, etc.\u00a0 Many households do their oosooji (\u5927\u6383\u9664<\/strong>) as well.\u00a0 The entire house is turned upside down with cleaning solution and dirty rags.\u00a0 All this cleaning is done to prepare a fresh start for the New Year.<\/p>\n

Around seven in the evening on New Year’s day, families all over Japan will watch a popular show called Koohaku Uta Gassen (\u7d05\u767d\u6b4c\u5408\u6226<\/strong><\/span>).\u00a0 It’s a musical show divided into two teams.\u00a0 The two teams are divided by sex.\u00a0 The red team or akagumi (\u8d64\u7d44<\/strong><\/span>) consists of female singers and the white team or shirogumi (\u767d\u7d44<\/strong><\/span>) consists of male singers.\u00a0 It’s a battle between the sexes to determine which side has the better singers.\u00a0\u00a0Koohaku Uta Gassen (\u7d05\u767d\u6b4c\u5408\u6226<\/strong><\/span>)\u00a0is a musical program\u00a0with all sorts of musical styles like pop, rap, and traditional Japanese music.\u00a0 It has everything for everyone.\u00a0 All of Japan’s famous singers are on the show, so it’s a great show to watch if you want to know the most current and popular singers in Japan.<\/p>\n

Around eleven in the evening families will eat a traditional meal of toshikoshi soba (\u5e74\u8d8a\u3057\u305d\u3070<\/strong>) which are buckwheat noodles.\u00a0 The noodles symbolize long life and the Japanese eat it out of the desire to live a long life.\u00a0 During this time, shrines all over Japan will pass out amazake (\u7518\u9152<\/strong><\/span>) to all the people who have made a pilgrimage to the shrine.\u00a0 Amazake (\u7518\u9152<\/strong><\/span>) is a sweet, alcoholic traditional Japanese drink that people drink on New Year’s Eve.\u00a0 During this time a bell called a bonshoo (\u307c\u3093\u3057\u3087\u3046<\/strong>) will strike at midnight to ring in the new year.<\/p>\n

Ok, well this is going to be the last post for this blog for this year.\u00a0 I can’t explain it, but I feel kind of sad that the year is ending, but excited for the new year as well.\u00a0 I’ll post again on New Years, so look for that post.\u00a0 See you next year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This December 31st will be a busy day all over Japan.\u00a0 New Year’s Eve is called Oomisoka (\u5927\u6666\u65e5) in Japanese.\u00a0 Towards the end of the year many companies will hold office parties called boonenkai (\u307c\u3046\u306d\u3093\u304b\u3044).\u00a0 Boonenkai (\u307c\u3046\u306d\u3093\u304b\u3044) can be translated as ‘end-of-the-year party.’\u00a0 Many employees will present an oseibo (\u304a\u305b\u3044\u307c) or an end of the…<\/p>\n

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