Japanese Holidays

January 1-3
New Year (shogatsu)

This is the most important national holiday in Japan. New Year (shogatsu or oshogatsu) is the most important holiday in Japan. Most businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3, and families typically gather to spend the days together.

Years are traditionally viewed as completely separate, with each new year providing a fresh start. Consequently, all duties are supposed to be completed by the end of the year, while bonenkai parties ("year forgetting parties") are held with the purpose of leaving the old year's worries and troubles behind.

Homes and entrance gates are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees, and clothes and houses are cleaned.

On New Year's eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles), symbolizing longevity, are served. A more recent custom is watching the music show "kohaku uta gassen", a highly popular television program featuring many of Japan's most famous J-pop and enka singers in spectacular performances.

January 1 is a very auspicious day, best started by viewing the new year's first sunrise (hatsu-hinode), and traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. Therefore, the day is supposed be full of joy and free of stress and anger, while everything should be clean and no work should be done.

It is a tradition to visit a shrine or temple during shogatsu (hatsumode). The most popular temples and shrines, such as Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, attract several million people during the three days. Most impressive are such visits at the actual turn of the year, when large temple bells are rung at midnight.

Various kinds of special dishes are served during shogatsu. They include osechi ryori, otoso (sweetened rice wine) and ozoni (a soup with mochi).

There are also a few games traditionally played on New Year, however, their popularity has decreased in recent times. Hanetsuki (Japanese badminton), takoage (kite flying), and karuta (a card game) are some of them.

A very popular custom is the sending of New Year's cards, which are specially marked to be delivered on January 1. It is not uncommon for one person to send out several dozens of cards to friends, relatives and co-workers.

The coming of age of 20 year old men and women is celebrated. The Coming of Age festival is celebrated on the second Monday of January (it used to be celebrated always on January 15 until the year 1999). All young people who turn twenty years old in that year are celebrated on Seijin no hi. Twenty is the age considered as the beginning of adulthood. It is also the minimum legal age for voting, drinking, and smoking.

Celebrations are held nationwide in every town with most of the people turning 20 participating in formal dresses. Seijin no hi is a national holiday.

February 3
Beginning of spring (setsubun)

Setsubun ("seasonal division") is a festival held on February 3 or 4, one day before the start of spring according to the Japanese lunar calendar. Setsubun is not a national holiday.

For many centuries, the people of Japan have been performing rituals with the purpose of chasing away evil spirits at the start of spring.

Around the 13th century, for example, it became a custom to drive away evil spirits by the strong smell of burning dried sardine heads, the smoke of burning wood and the noise of drums. While this custom is not popular anymore, a few people still decorate their house entrances with fish heads and holy tree leaves in order to deter evil spirits from entering.

In modern days, the most commonly performed setsubun ritual is the throwing of roasted beans around one's house and at temples and shrines across the country. When throwing the beans, you are supposed to shout "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" ("Devils out, happiness in"). Afterwards you should pick up and eat the number of beans, which corresponds to your age.

According to the earliest Japanese history books, on this day in the year 660 BC the first Japanese emperor was crowned.

In Japan, women give chocolates to men on Valentine's Day. It is not a national holiday. St. Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14, and White Day one month later on March 14. It is said that St. Valentine's Day was imported to Japan in 1958 by a Japanese confectionery company. In Japan, it is only the women giving presents - mainly chocolate - to men, but not the other way around. Men are supposed to return the favours received on Valentine's Day one month later on White Day, a Japanese creation. White Day is believed to have been introduced by a marshmallow manufacturing company in the 1960s. The white marshmallows gave the day its name but other kinds of presents such as candy, flowers, etc. have become more popular over the years.

Also called girl's festival. The Hina Matsuri or Doll Festival or Girl's Festival is celebrated on March 3. On this day, families with girls wish their daughters a successful and happy life. Dolls are displayed in the house together with peach blossoms. The doll festival has its origin in a Chinese custom in which bad fortune is transferred to dolls and then removed by abandoning the doll on a river. On Hina Matsuri, sweet sake is drunken and chirashi sushi is eaten.

The opposite of Valentine's Day: Men give cakes or chocolates to women. It is not a national holiday. See Valentine's Day

Graves are visited during the week (ohigan) of the Equinox Day. The day itself is a national holiday. Most Japanese funeral services are held in a Buddhist style. The following is a description of a Japanese funeral, there exist many variations.

On the funeral day the body is cremated. The guests take a first meal during that time in the crematorium. Afterwards, the relatives pick the bones out of the ash and pass them from person to person by chopsticks.

The actual funeral ceremony is then held by Buddhist monks according to Buddhist rituals. Many guests are present at this ceremony. Each of them will pay about 20,000 Yen to the relatives and receive a small gift in return. At last, another meal is held.

The urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (special 12 hour sticks for the night exist). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After 35 days, the urn is finally buried on a Buddhist cemetery.

The Japanese visit their ancestors' graves on many occasions during the year: especially during the obon week, the anniversaries, and the equinoctial weeks.

There are certain things (e.g. concerning chopsticks*) one should not do in everyday life because they are linked to funeral rites and death, and are, therefore, suspected to cause bad luck.

*Do not stick chopsticks into your food, especially not into rice. Only at funerals are chopsticks stuck into the rice that is put onto the altar.

*Do not pass food with your chopsticks directly to somebody else's chopsticks. Only at funerals are the bones of the cremated body given in that way from person to person.

April 29 used to be the birthday of Emperor Showa who died in the year 1989. After his death, the day was changed into a national holiday for the environment and nature since the emperor loved nature.

On this day in 1947, the new post war constitution was put into effect.

Recently created national holiday to make the Golden Week a continuous holiday. According to Japanese law, if two national holidays are separated by just one day, the day in between is also turned into a national holiday (unless the "between day" is a Sunday, in which case it will be just a regular Sunday).

Tanabata is not a national holiday.The star festival (Tanabata) takes place on July 7. On this day two stars (Altair and Vega) that are usually separated from each other by the milky way, come together.

In the night of July 7, people put little bamboo trees in their garden. They also hang papers with wishes written on it on that tree in the hope they become true.

As many other Japanese traditions, Tanabata has its origin in a Chinese tradition but has become distinctively Japanese over the centuries.

Obon is a festival to commemorate the deceased ancestors. Obon is a Buddhist festival for commemorating deceased ancestors, as it is believed that each year during obon, the ancestors' spirits return to our world in order to visit their relatives.

Lanterns are traditionally hang in front of houses in order to guide the ancestors' spirits, while food offers are made at house altars and temples, and obon dances (bon odori) are performed. At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes and seas in order to guide the spirits back into their world.

Obon takes place in the middle of August (or July according to the lunar calendar). The Obon week is also one of Japan's three major holiday seasons, accompanied by intensive domestic and international travel activities.

Respect for the elderly and longlivity is celebrated on this national holiday.

Graves are visited during the week (ohigan) of the Equinox Day. The day itself is a national holiday.

On that day 1964, the Olympic games of Tokyo were opened.

November 3
Culture Day (bunka no hi)

A day for promotion of culture and the love for freedom and peace. On the culture day, schools and the government award certain persons for their special, cultural activities.

A festival for children, it is not a national holiday. "Shichi Go San" means "Seven Five Three". Girls of age three and seven and boys of age three and five are celebrated on Shichigosan, and it is prayed for their good health and growth. Shichigosan takes place on November 15 and is not a national holiday. On November 15 or the closest weekend, the young people visit a Shinto Shrine dressed up in kimono.

Odd numbers are considered lucky numbers. Long candies in bags that are decorated with turtles and cranes are given to the children. The candy, the crane, and the turtle, all symbolize longlivity.

A national holiday for honoring labour.

The birthday of the current emperor is always a national holiday. If the emperor changes, the national holiday changes to the birthday date of the new emperor.

While christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, more and more people are taking up traditions such as decorating their home, giving presents to friends and celebrating the event with a special meal. The traditional Japanese christmas food is the christmas cake, usually made of sponge cake, strawberries and whipped cream.