o-shÇgatsu
"When I was a child in the 1960s, New Year's was
really special to me. The special days began a day before
the new year. On December 31st, New Year's Eve (Çmisoka),
everybody was very busy preparing for the New Year's Day.
Cleaning the entire house was the major event of this
busy day. All members of a household cooperated in the
big cleaning. Mothers were preparing special New Year's
dishes. Merchants tried to liquidate the year's credit
and debt by the end of the day (the last day of the
year). Kids ran errands. This busy situation right before
the New Year's celebration added to the euphoric
excitement among the people.
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- Mr. Hisato Kawata
- City: KÇbe
- Prefecture: HyÇgo
- Birth: Feb. 8, 1959
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"The first three days of the new year were the most
joyful time. I used to look forward to them each year. During
these three days, everybody was free from his or her daily
chores. Fathers were free from going to work; mothers were free
from housework; and we, kids, were free from study. We were not
only free from study but also allowed to do various things that
were prohibited otherwise. I could watch TV as much as I wanted.
I was allowed to have a sip of rice wine, which minors are
prohibited to drink. The New Year's break was a special time of
total freedom and joy.
"When I got up on January 1st, everything was cleaned and
in order. I felt refreshed, as if everything had started again
from the beginning. I made a kind of New Year's promise, 'This
year is going to be different. I will do this and won't do that.'
The breakfast on New Year's day was also special, mainly
consisting of o-zÇni
(a special New Year's soup with mochi, steamed and pounded
rice cake) and o-toso (special sake with a kind of
medicine in it). These meals were served in special dishes. The
plates, bowls, cups, and chopsticks that were used for this
special occasion were too fancy to be used for a usual daily
meal.
"When the special meal (the first meal of the year) was
ready, and everybody sat at the dining table, we exchanged New
Year's greetings among family with small cups of o-toso in
our hands. 'Happy New Year,' my father said first. Then the rest
of us responded to it by saying, 'Happy New Year.' We then drank
our small cup of o-toso.
"After the special breakfast, I picked up a bundle of New
Year's greeting cards from the mailbox and distributed them to
each family member at the dining table, looking forward to
finding which cards were for me. After that, everybody dressed up
and went to visit our relative's house for a New Year's
gathering.
"The atmosphere outside was quite a contrast to that of
the previous day. Most of the alleys and streets were clean and
quiet. Almost all the stores were closed on New Year's Day. Every
house on the street was also clean and quiet, as if the whole
town was quietly waiting to be used again by the people after the
New Year's celebration. Until then, everything should be left
alone, clean and quiet. That was what I felt when I walked with
my parents on the solemnly clean and quiet street to my
relative's house.
"As Japanese society has become busy, so have the people.
Nowadays, you can see many restaurants in town open and busy with
customers on New Year's Day."
