Ayako Egawa wrote to us about New Year’s decorations in Japan. Here’s where she wrote…
“Now we are preparing for New Years. Today I found Kadomatsu decorations in front of a shopping mall.
Kadomatsu 門松, is translated as “gate pine”. It’s a traditional Japanese decoration for New Years. They’re placed in pairs in front of homes to welcome ancestral spirits called kami of the harvest.
When I see it, I feel the New Year is coming soon.
The picture below is of a home door decoration. I hang it on the door of my apartment. The wreath is similar to Kadomatsu. Pine is in both decorations.
In Japan, some people yell ‘Happy New Year’ at busy shopping areas at midnight and also some people start to visit shrines to pray for new year wishes starting at midnight and going into January 1st.
The next year is a year of wild boar in Chinese astrology.
We say ‘Yoi otoshiwo’ ‘良いお年を’ which means have a wonderful new year at the end of the year.”
Thanks so much for sharing with us Ayako! The photos are great to see!
Happy New Year!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2018 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Japan, Mama Lisa, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, New Years. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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