by Stephanie Odom-Robertson
Oshogatsu is the name for the first month of the year with regards to Japanese New Year traditions. Many people take off Dec. 28 through Jan. 4 from work to observe these traditions. There are many words and practices to go over, so I'll just dive right in:
Kadomatsu - an easy and fun way to get into Japanese New Year spirit is to buy a door decoration, or kadomatsu, usually made from straw and/or pine needles. These can be bought from late December almost everywhere, and range in price from 500 yen upwards.
Omisoka - New Year's Eve. Traditions include cleaning the house from top to bottom to rid the place of last year's dirt, then watching a 50-year-old TV program which basically consists of a singing contest. The family usually sits around the kotatsu (heated table) and eats mikan (mandarin oranges) and mochi (chewy rice balls, then toshikoshi soba closer to midnight. At about 15 minutes until midnight, temple bells start ringing 108 times to get rid of the 108 evils in Buddhism. At midnight, family members say "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" (Happy New Year). Some people then make their first temple or shrine visit of the year, but others wait until later.
Hatsumode - the first temple or shrine visit of the year, done anytime between midnight on Jan. 1 and Jan. 4 People usually buy some kind of charm or souvenir from the temple grounds and take a 5 yen coin to donate to the temple while praying. Some very famous (and thus crowded) temples to visit are the Meiji-jingu in Harajuku, Sensouji in Asakusa, and Tsurugaoka Happankan in Kamakura. I highly recommend doing this if you're in teh country, especially since most train lines run through the night for this period. (But please check ahead of time to make sure the one you are planning to take does in fact run late.)
Osechi ryori - New Year's food. This is served cold since the mother actually gets a break in cooking around this time and is not supposed to cook during the holidays. Another reason, and one very important for you to remember, is that most stores are closed from Jan. 1 - Jan. 3. Stored in fabulous-looking lacquered boxes stacked on top of each other.
Otoshidama - New Year's money given to children. This is an important one for your students! Children are given money in special envelopes to use as they wish.
Nengajo - New Year's cards. You have no doubt already seen these on sale. These are postcards usually decorated with the coming year's Chinese Zodiac animal and sent en masse to family and friends. Some students earn a little spending money by delivering these to homes on Jan. 1.
Unrelated to New Year traditions but still interesting is Coming of Age Day, or Seijin no hi. This is when all young people who turned 20 since last April 1 or will turn 20 before April 2 of this year (thus classmates in school) will celebrate becoming an adult. If you forget when it is, you'll be reminded by the girls walking around in elaborate kimono and white fur stolls.
I borrowed shamelessly from this site about Oshogatsu.