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…

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…

The new year period, known as Oshogatsu, is a very significant occasion in Japan. Families gather, temples and shrines are visited, special new year’s cards (called nengajō) are exchanged and much preparation takes place, including a thorough cleaning of the house. A number of special dishes are exclusively eaten during the new year period as…