Inside Tokyo’s luxury hotels the champagne bottles are empty and the canapés are gone. End-of-year parties have come to an end, and a whole new year has officially started. New Year’s Day is a very important national holiday in Japan. It’s a day to relax and enjoy with one’s family, and people likely already prepared…

Japanese New Year holidays usually start from December 29 and go until January 3, but depending on the year and one’s job it can start as early ad December 27th and go until January 8th. During this time, people are busy cleaning their houses in the osoji ritual before New Year, making or buying osechi…

Shrines and temples are beautiful touristy locations, but being sacred places of worship they are much more than a simple photo spot. Tourists are often scared not to offend the locals, so it’s best to learn the basic rules. Let’s take a look at some of the common items you will see upon your visit…

Probably there are different ways to spend the New Year’s holidays depending on the cultural background of every country and also on the customs and traditions in your own family. In Japan there is also a long list of cultural things to do during this important event. Here is a guide to how Japanese people…

jp.fotolia.com/ While it is the time of the year for preparing Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties in many countries, in Japan things are a little different. There is some version of Christmas social gatherings, while for New Year enjoy a few quiet days together with their families. There are many preparations, decorations and ritual,…

Thereare a lot of firsts that are important to Japanese people in the new year – the first visit to a shrine, the first sunrise, and even the first dream! Hatsuyume (初夢) literally means the first dream of the New Year. It is traditionally believed it foretells the kind of year and luck you will…

Sugoroku is a Japanese board game which has become a tradition for kids to play during the New Year’s Day. Usually children’s magazines would include additions to the game in their January issues. The history of Sugoroku can be traced back to the 12th century. In the 17th century, e-sugoroku (“e” meaning picture) which is…

If you have been to Japan during the oshogatsu (お正月) i.e. Japanese New Year before, you probably have seen many people queuing outside department stores and shops to buy fukubukuros (福袋) i.e. fortune bags. If you have not witnessed this phenomenon personally, you might have seen footage of the frenzy caused by eager shoppers who…

When the current year draws to a close, the Japanese are busy with preparing for the upcoming oshogatsu (お正月) by cleaning up their houses, purchasing or preparing food to be cooked and eaten during the New Year holidays, travelling to their hometowns to reunite with their families or taking a much-deserved break overseas with their…

When you say the word “Chiba” or “Narita” to most foreigners, images of Japan’s largest international airport comes immediately to mind, along with that mad rush foreigners make to catch their plane. Yet, if you say Narita or Chiba to most Japanese, you might hear two diverse descriptions – the first, of course is the…