Oshougatsu - New Year in Japan

Midnight in Tokyo is not always fireworks and champagne. Around many temples, the year turns with Joya no Kane [除夜の鐘]: a deep bell struck 108 times, once for each earthly desire in Buddhist teaching. That sound is a good first clue to what Oshougatsu [お正月] feels like — quieter than a Western New Year’s Eve, denser with family, food, and small rituals that still matter.

From the first shrine visit to osechi boxes and money envelopes for children, Japanese New Year is less a single party and more a season of fresh starts. Below is how the holiday works, what people actually do, and how to greet the year in natural Japanese.

Contents 5

How is New Year celebrated in Japan?

New Year in Japan is known as Oshougatsu [お正月]. The core public holiday window runs roughly from January 1 to January 3, when many offices close and families gather. Some customs stretch further into January with games, shrine visits, and ceremonies that close the New Year season.

Since 1873, Japan has marked the official New Year on the Gregorian calendar (January 1). Before that, celebrations followed a lunisolar calendar closer to Chinese New Year. The modern holiday kept older Shinto and Buddhist customs and folded them into the January calendar.

Visiting temples and shrines at Japanese New Year

The first visit of the year to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple is hatsumōde [初詣]. Crowds can be enormous at famous places such as Meiji Shrine in Tokyo; people offer a short prayer, make a coin offering, and often buy a new charm for the year ahead.

Many sites light large or small fires so visitors can warm their hands. Incense is burned at temples and at home; some people wave the smoke toward themselves as a gesture of purification.

Joya no Kane — At midnight on December 31, many Buddhist temples ring their large bells 108 times. The practice is called Joya no Kane [除夜の鐘] and marks the end of the old year’s worldly desires. At some temples, visitors can take a turn pulling the rope when crowds allow.

Ema — Wooden prayer plaques. The custom is tied to older offerings of horses to shrines. People write a wish for the coming year and hang the board at the shrine grounds.

Hamaya — Literally “demon-breaking arrow.” These decorative arrows with samurai-era roots are sold at shrines around New Year; families often buy them for children as protective decorations.

Omikuji — Paper fortunes drawn at shrines and temples. Drawing omikuji is especially common during the New Year rush: good luck is kept; bad luck is often tied to a rack or tree on the grounds.

Dondo-yaki — After New Year decorations and old charms have done their work, many neighborhoods burn them in a communal bonfire. Throwing sacred items in ordinary trash is traditionally avoided; the fire returns them with care.

Omamori — Small protective charms in brocade bags with a prayer slip or wood inside. There are types for traffic safety, exams, health, love, pregnancy, and more; people often exchange last year’s omamori when they buy a new one.

Other New Year traditions in Japan

Hatsuhinode [初日の出] — Many people wake early on January 1 to watch the first sunrise of the year from a coast, hill, or rooftop. The first sun is a classic seasonal image in haiku and a popular family outing when weather allows.

Takoage — Kite flying is a classic New Year pastime. In the past, some communities flew distinctive demon-faced kites as a playful way to push away misfortune; today families more often fly ordinary colorful kites in parks and schoolyards.

Otoshidama — Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles give children money in small decorative envelopes. Amounts vary by age and family custom; a few thousand yen per child is common, and relatives often keep gifts fair among siblings.

Kadomatsu — Pine, bamboo, and plum arrangements placed at entrances to welcome the New Year deity. They usually stay up into early January and are later burned with other decorations.

Kōhaku Uta Gassen — NHK’s year-end music special, running for decades, with popular artists split into red and white teams. It remains one of Japan’s best-known New Year’s Eve television traditions, even as viewing habits change.

Nengajō — New Year postcards timed to arrive on January 1. Post offices handle a huge seasonal volume; cards often feature the Chinese zodiac animal of the year. Families mourning a recent death traditionally send a notice instead of festive cards.

Traditional games — Grandparents still teach games such as karuta, spinning tops, and other seasonal pastimes. In Kyoto and elsewhere, formal karuta competitions may even be played in kimono.

Fukubukuro — “Lucky bags” sold by shops at New Year: sealed bags of mixed products at a fixed price, usually worth more than the sticker if you like the contents. Department stores and fashion brands turn the first days of January into a treasure-hunt rush.

New Year food in Japan

Food is half the atmosphere of Oshougatsu. Families share special dishes such as osechi, ozōni, kagami mochi, amazake, toshikoshi soba, and sweet sake toasts like otoso.

Osechi ryōri — A set of New Year dishes packed in stacked lacquer boxes (jūbako). Each item carries a wish: longevity, fertility, prosperity, health. Preparing thirty-plus items at home is hard work, so many households order osechi from department stores, restaurants, or even a konbini set when time is short.

Mochi — Sticky rice cakes are central to New Year cooking and decoration. Before the holiday, some communities still pound rice in a wooden mortar (mochitsuki) in public demonstrations or family events.

Kagami mochi is a decorative stack of two round mochi topped with a citrus fruit (daidai or mikan). The name links to old round bronze mirrors; the fruit’s name plays on “generations,” a wish for continuity. The display is later broken and eaten in a ritual known as kagami biraki.

Ozōni — A soup with mochi and other ingredients that change by region: clear broth or miso, chicken or fish, different vegetables. For many families it is the first warm meal of January 1.

Amazake — A sweet drink made from fermented rice, often served hot at shrines and stalls during the season. Some versions are nearly non-alcoholic; others are lightly spiked. It warms hands and stomachs after a long hatsumōde queue.

Toshikoshi soba — On New Year’s Eve (ōmisoka), many people eat buckwheat noodles before midnight. The long strands suggest longevity and a clean cut with the past year. Leaving noodles unfinished is traditionally discouraged.

New Year is also one of Japan’s busiest travel periods, with packed trains and family visits across the country. The emperor’s public greeting, local fireworks in some towns, and neighborhood events can extend the festive mood well into mid-January.

New Year phrases in Japanese

The full, polite way to say Happy New Year after the year has begun is:

• Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu
• あけましておめでとうございます

People rarely put shinnen [新年] in front in everyday speech. Akemashite comes from akeru [明ける], “to dawn” or “to open.” Common shorter forms include:

• 明けましておめでとうございます
• 明けましておめでとう
• 明けておめでとう (akete omedetou)
• あけおめ (akeome) — very casual

The shorter the phrase, the more casual the tone. With strangers, clients, or coworkers, stick to at least akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.

Avoid akemashite before January 1 — it refers to a year that has already dawned. Before the year ends, use something like:

• よいお年をお迎えください。
• Yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai
• Short form: Yoi otoshi o! よいお年を！

Another standard follow-up is kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu [今年もよろしくお願いします] — roughly “please treat me well again this year.” Young friends sometimes joke with koto yoro [ことよろ]!

On cards you may also see gashō [賀正], shōshun [頌春], or keishun [慶春]. These are written greetings more than spoken ones.

For more lines and nuance, see the dedicated guide to New Year phrases in Japanese — useful if you are writing nengajō or messaging Japanese friends across the turn of the year.