{"id":6561,"date":"2020-12-18T07:44:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T07:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=6561"},"modified":"2021-04-07T06:21:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T06:21:29","slug":"a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-%ef%bc%92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-%ef%bc%92\/","title":{"rendered":"A Month Even A Priest Must Run \u2013 Part \uff12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last time (<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-1\/\">https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-1\/<\/a>) we talked about celebrating Japanese New Year in the past.\u00a0 But times have changed.\u00a0 Many services are open, such as <u>conbini\u00a0<\/u>(convenience stores \u30b3\u30f3\u30d3\u30cb) and <u>fami-res\u00a0<\/u>(\u30d5\u30a1\u30df\u30ec\u30b9family restaurants)\u00a0 like Thanksgiving Day in the US now.\u00a0 I am sure that the magic of a quiet New Year\u2019s Day must have been lost. And the younger generations (\u4e16\u4ee3\u00a0 sedai) do not understand the fear of being starved to death of the manga character during the New Year\u2019s holidays.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, there was a big discussion on a franchise owner of a conbini who had decided not to open his combini store 24\/7 without the <u>headquarters<\/u>\u2019 (\u672c\u793e\/\u672c\u90e8honsha\/honbu) prior <u>approval\u00a0<\/u>(\u8a31\u53ef\u00a0 kyoka). The headquarters charged the <u>franchisee\u00a0<\/u>(\u30d5\u30e9\u30f3\u30c1\u30e3\u30a4\u30ba\u52a0\u76df\u8005furanchaizu kameisha) with the <u>breach of contract <\/u>(\u5951\u7d04\u9055\u53cdkeiyaku ihan), and told him that it would\u00a0<u>terminate\u00a0<\/u>(\u7d42\u4e86\u3059\u308bshuryousuru) the contract.\u00a0 This has started the huge social discussion \u2013 are there any reasons why conbini must open 24\/7?\u00a0\u00a0 For the New Year\u2019s Day 2020, there were some conbini stores that took a day off with the approval of their headquarters as an experiment.<\/p>\n<p>So what will happen on the New Year\u2019s Day in 2021?\u00a0 Many major supermarket chains are planning to close for the first 3 days in 2021.\u00a0 Large conbini chains will be open but they will <u>respect\u00a0<\/u>(\u5c0a\u91cd\u3059\u308bsonchosuru) each franchisee\u2019 decision whether to open or not.\u00a0 For many younger generations, to not be able to shop or get bento during the New Year\u2019s Holidays is something new.\u00a0 But it was like that 30 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of years ago, a social movement not to shop on Thanksgiving day in the US has started and some retailers started to close on Thanksgiving Day.\u00a0 The Japanese supermarket chains and conbini chains report that the New Year closures will be special only in 2021 due to COVID-19.\u00a0 They cite 1) grocery store employees have been working extra hard in 2020 to service people, risking their own lives, 2) there has been <u>a shortage of workers\u00a0<\/u>(\u4eba\u624b\u4e0d\u8db3 hitode busoku) in Japan, and 3) the government has been advising people to stay home in order to stop spreading COVID-19. It is ironic (\u76ae\u8089\u306a hinikuna) that it took COVID-19 to remind Japanese people of the New Year\u2019s Holidays like it used to.<\/p>\n<p>Kohaku Utagassen is no longer the one and only New Year Eve\u2019s program to see.\u00a0 Each member of a family has a program to watch. Most young people do not want TV any more anyway<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2014\u5e74\u306e\u304a\u6b63\u6708\u306f\u6d0b\u98a8\u304a\u305b\u3061\u6599\u7406(2\u301c3\u4eba\u524d)\u3067\u3000\u65b0\u4e38\u5b50\u99c5\u305d\u3070 \u30d3\u30a2\u30f3\u30b3\u30fb\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30b3\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t6qDNfL2bG0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As for osechi, Ameba News reports that 56.5% of Japanese surveyed said that they would buy osechi, while 43.5% said that they would cook osechi at home.\u00a0 Osechi has become international!\u00a0 You can buy osechi made by famous French restaurants and Italian restaurants as well as famous Japanese restaurants.\u00a0 They are not <u>cheap\u00a0<\/u>(\u5b89\u3044yasui). There are many that are over \u00a560,000 (US$600).\u00a0 People are willing to dish out a lot of money on osechi this year as they cannot go anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the meaning of the traditional osechi has been lost, but people enjoy more familiar (\u898b\u6163\u308c\u305f minareta) dishes that they could enjoy eating.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6926\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6926\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6926\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-350x233.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6926\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/ja\/users\/tookapic-1386459\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=933487\">tookapic<\/a>\u306b\u3088\u308b<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/ja\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=933487\">Pixabay<\/a>\u304b\u3089\u306e\u753b\u50cf<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The most <u>significant\u00a0<\/u>(\u91cd\u8981\u306a jyuyona) change must be the popularization of spending New Year\u2019s holidays overseas instead of <u>going back to their hometown\u00a0<\/u>(\u5e30\u7701\u3059\u308b kiseisuru). Most popular destinations in the New Year\u2019s Holidays in 2020 were Taiwan, Italy, Spain, and China.\u00a0 I was seriously surprised that the US was not ranked in the top 10 as Hawaii has been the popular destination for years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Retailers usually have an extremely popular event called \u798f\u888b(fukubukuro \u2013 lucky bag) on the first opening day of the new year.\u00a0 People line up and run to grab one of those bags full of unknown items at significant discounts. This video is from 01\/02\/2018.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u6fc0\u95d8\uff01\uff1f\u521d\u58f2\u308a\u201c\u798f\u888b\u30d0\u30c8\u30eb\u201d\u5bc6\u7740\u3000\u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u3082\u71b1\u8996\u7dda(18\/01\/02)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qht9bQQd8K8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It is a very different \u5e2b\u8d70 due to COVID-19.\u00a0 Because of the third wave, according to the Japanese news, restaurants, bars, and izakayas are asked to close at 10 pm in Tokyo with 500 new positive cases every day in Tokyo alone, and over 2000 positive cases nationwide. \u00a0And companies told employees not to have parties.\u00a0 So bonenkai (refer to Part 1) is out, and overseas trips will be forbidden.\u00a0 Some stores and conbinis will be off.\u00a0 2020-2021 New Year\u2019s Holidays seems to be a return of the old New Year Holiday somewhat.\u00a0The most significant differences from the 1980s are that your family in your hometown does not want you to come back from a big city like Tokyo, and shrines ask people to visit throughout 2-3 months instead of the 3 days of New Year.<\/p>\n<p>\u6765\u5e74\u306f\u826f\u3044\u5e74\u306b\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3088\u3046\u306b\uff01\uff08May the next year be a good one!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/luggage-933487_1280.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Last time (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-1\/) we talked about celebrating Japanese New Year in the past.\u00a0 But times have changed.\u00a0 Many services are open, such as conbini\u00a0(convenience stores \u30b3\u30f3\u30d3\u30cb) and fami-res\u00a0(\u30d5\u30a1\u30df\u30ec\u30b9family restaurants)\u00a0 like Thanksgiving Day in the US now.\u00a0 I am sure that the magic of a quiet New Year\u2019s Day must have been lost. And the younger&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-%ef%bc%92\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":6926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,505759],"tags":[548044,548043,1166,547859],"class_list":["post-6561","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-conbini","tag-fukubukuro","tag-new-year","tag-osechi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6561"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6927,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561\/revisions\/6927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}