Year-End Traditions in Japan
Life in Japan – Issue 009
As the year draws to a close, only a few days remain.
Did you enjoy a pleasant Christmas?
Although Japan is often associated with strong traditional elements toward the end of the year, Christmas is, of course, also celebrated here. From around mid-December, Christmas decorations become increasingly visible, and department stores and city streets take on a festive atmosphere. However, once December 25 has passed, the mood of the city changes abruptly. Christmas trees and bright decorations are quickly taken down, and by the following day, New Year’s decorations such as kadomatsu and shimenawa begin to appear. Many visitors are surprised by how quickly this transition happens.
In Japan, Christmas is, in most cases, not rooted in religious belief. For many Japanese people, it is understood as “the day Santa Claus brings presents,” a seasonal event enjoyed by sharing cake and spending time with family or a partner. For this reason, once the 25th is over, the event comes to an end, and people immediately shift their attention to the year’s end. From the perspective of cultures where Christmas has been carefully preserved as an expression of faith, this approach may feel unfamiliar or even unsettling.
Rather than lingering in the afterglow of celebration, people turn their focus toward preparing to welcome the new year in an orderly state, both mentally and physically. This clear and decisive shift is, perhaps, one of the defining characteristics of the Japanese year’s end.
In this article, I would like to explore how people in Japan prepare for the close of the year and get ready to welcome a new one, focusing on this culture of “preparation.”
Three New Year Decorations That Invite Good Fortune
The New Year (Oshōgatsu) is the most important turning point of the year in Japan. At the heart of year-end preparations is the idea of welcoming the New Year deity, Toshigami-sama（歳神様）. Toshigami-sama is believed to bring health, prosperity, and a good harvest for the coming year.
To ensure that the deity can find the home without hesitation and be properly welcomed, people prepare three representative decorations toward the end of the year.
1. Kadomatsu（門松）
A sign to welcome the New Year deity
Kadomatsu（門松） are New Year decorations that are traditionally placed in pairs on either side of a home’s entrance. They serve as markers to help Toshigami-sama find the house without hesitation when descending to the human world.
Pine, which remains green throughout the year, symbolizes eternal life, while bamboo, which grows straight and upward, represents growth and prosperity.
However, displaying them as a pair is not an absolute requirement. Depending on the available space or the layout of the entrance, some households place only a single kadomatsu. In either case, what matters is the intention it conveys: that the household is prepared to welcome the New Year deity.
2. Shime-kazari（しめ飾り）
A Marker of Sacred Space at the Turning of the Year
Shime-kazari（しめ飾り） are New Year decorations displayed at the entrances of ordinary households during the New Year period.
They are based on shimenawa（しめ縄）, sacred ropes traditionally hung at shrine gates and other holy sites, and share the same underlying concept.
Within the home, shime-kazari are prepared in order to welcome the New Year deity, Toshigami-sama（年神様）.
Hanging a shime-kazari also serves to mark a boundary between the everyday world outside and the interior space that has been prepared to receive the new year.
By preventing the intrusion of impurity and presenting the home as a purified place, shime-kazari have come to function as a symbolic boundary at the turning of the year.
3. Kagami-mochi（鏡餅）
The dwelling place of the New Year deity
Kagami-mochi（鏡餅） is an offering made to Toshigami-sama and serves as the deity’s yorishiro, a temporary dwelling place within the home. It is traditionally formed by stacking two round rice cakes, one slightly smaller than the other.
The round shape represents harmony and the human spirit, while the act of stacking symbolizes the wish that good things will accumulate. Placed on top is a daidai (橙), a Japanese variety of orange, whose name echoes the word meaning “generation after generation,” expressing the hope that the family will continue to prosper.
After the New Year period ends, the kagami-mochi is cooked and eaten. By consuming the rice cakes in which the deity is believed to have resided, people hope to take in that divine power and wish for a healthy year ahead.
We were able to watch mochi being made for kagami-mochi at a local mochi shop.
When Should Decorations Be Displayed?
In Japan, when decorations are displayed has traditionally been considered just as important as what is displayed. In general, it is considered ideal to have New Year decorations in place by December 28.
One reason December 29 is often avoided lies in a characteristic feature of the Japanese language: the overlap of sound and meaning. The number “twenty-nine,” pronounced nijūkyū, is pronounced the same as the phrase nijūku (二重苦), which means “double suffering” or “two hardships occurring at the same time.” Because of this association, the date has come to be regarded as unlucky.
Decorating on December 31 is also commonly avoided. This is referred to as ichiya-kazari, or “one-night decoration,” and has traditionally been viewed as insufficient preparation for welcoming the New Year deity. Rushing to prepare at the very last moment was seen as lacking sincerity on the part of the host.
These ideas are not strict rules but rather reflect a broader sensibility. Rather than greeting the turn of the year in a hurried state, people have valued completing preparations with time to spare and waiting calmly for the new year to arrive. Attitudes toward the timing of New Year decorations reflect a cultural emphasis on the mindset of welcoming.
Toshikoshi Soba（年越しそば）
(The Year-Crossing Noodles)
On the night of December 31, people in Japan eat toshikoshi soba（年越しそば）.
In many households, this soba is eaten before midnight as a way of bringing the year to a close.
Why Soba on New Year’s Eve?
There are two main reasons commonly given for this custom.
A wish for longevity:
Because soba noodles are thin and long, they are associated with the hope of living a long and healthy life.
A clear break with the past year:
Soba noodles are relatively easy to cut, which has led to the idea of cutting off the hardships and misfortunes of the past year so they are not carried into the next one.
New Year’s Eve in a Japanese Household
In my case, New Year’s Eve was always a lively day.
Special television programs were on, relatives gathered, and the table was filled with dishes such as sushi and sukiyaki.
By the time night grew late, everyone was already full. Even so, before the date changed, we would always eat toshikoshi soba, even if only a small portion.
There are various sayings about toshikoshi soba that differ by region and household. I often heard that biting the noodles in half would cut one’s ties, so they should be eaten without cutting them. Others say the soba should be finished before the year ends, or that leaving any behind would cause good fortune to slip away in the coming year.
For people from outside Japan, slurping noodles may feel difficult or even impolite. Still, if you ever have the chance to eat soba in Japan, I encourage you to try slurping the noodles without biting them, at least once.
Osechi Ryori（おせち料理): The Lucky Feast in a Box
After closing the year with toshikoshi soba, the first foods we eat on the morning of the New Year are osechi ryori（おせち料理） and zōni（雑煮）.
Zōni is a soup containing rice cakes, with seasoning and ingredients that vary by region and by household.
Osechi ryori is a traditional set of New Year dishes, and its defining feature is that everything is prepared before the year ends. In the past, it was believed that during the first three days of the New Year, the kitchen deity should be allowed to rest, and that women should also be freed from household duties. For this reason, dishes were seasoned strongly or prepared with vinegar so they would keep well, cooked by December 31, and packed into stacked boxes known as jubako（重箱）.
Once the osechi is completed and the lids of the jubako are closed, it serves as a sign that all preparations for the New Year have been fully completed.
Stories Inside the Box: Wishes Contained in Each Dish
The dishes in osechi are not simply delicious side dishes. Each one carries a symbolic meaning, forming a tangible expression of wishes for the coming year.
Shrimp（海老）:
Its bent shape resembles that of an elderly person, expressing a wish for longevity.Kuromame（黒豆）:
Associated with mame, a word that conveys ideas of health and diligence, expressing the hope of staying well and working earnestly throughout the year.Kazunoko（数の子）:
The many eggs clustered together symbolize prosperity and the continuation of the family line.Kuri-kinton（栗きんとん）:
Its golden color is likened to treasure, expressing the wish for a prosperous year.Datemaki（伊達巻）:
Its scroll-like shape represents wisdom and the fulfillment of learning.
Today, fewer households prepare all of these dishes by hand, and more people reserve or purchase osechi from department stores or restaurants. Even so, the cultural idea of completing the celebratory meal before the New Year arrives remains unchanged.
The Art of Welcoming the New Year
Compared with the countdown parties commonly seen in Western countries, the Japanese year’s end places greater emphasis on quiet preparation.
The New Year decorations, toshikoshi soba, and osechi ryori introduced in this article are not merely tasks to be completed. They function as switches that help people shift their mindset from ordinary daily life to a hare day, a special and auspicious occasion.
In Japan, the New Year has traditionally been understood not as something that automatically “starts,” but as something that is “welcomed,” like an honored guest. For this reason, people clean their homes, purify their surroundings, and make thorough preparations at the end of the year, waiting carefully for the moment to arrive.
There is no single correct way to do this. Some households place great importance on tradition, while others keep things simple. What they share, however, is the wish to bring the old year to a close with gratitude and to welcome the new year in a clean and orderly state.
In these practices, we can see a Japanese sensibility that values seasonal turning points and approaches the coming year with sincerity.
—Written by Sumire
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