New Years eve activities and Japanese culture for New Years

Hello Everyone!

Many of us in the travel industry will be happy to put 2020 behind us and look forward to a much better year for travel in 2021. Here in Japan, we practice a variety of traditions in preparation for the New Year holiday,
including “Osouji”, a deep cleaning of homes and businesses to purify them for the visit from the Shinto deity of the new year “Toshigami”. Of course, Osouji takes on a more practical meaning as we close out 2020 and hope
to say goodbye to the coronavirus pandemic!

Companies get together for year-end parties called “bonenkai”, which fitting translates to “forget the year party” for 2020! Copious amounts of alcohol are often involved in helping to forget the year, though certainly these
types of gatherings are more subdued this year than they normally would be. Bonenkai are a way for businesses to break down the natural barriers between management and employees and to celebrate the good things that
happened during the year as well as leaving the bad things behind.

At home, families begin preparing “osechi ryori”, the traditional foods eaten on New Year’s Day. Traditionally,
these were dishes that could be prepared a day or two in advance so nobody would need to cook on New Year’s Day and the family could enjoy time together. The modern conveniences of today allow people to pre-order
osechi-ryori meals from their favorite shops or restaurants if they don’t want to cook at all.

On New Year’s Eve, people relax at home, often watching the long-running “Kohaku Uta Gassen” song
competition on television, which ends just before midnight of the new year. As the clock strikes midnight, “joya no kane”, the ringing of the temple bells occurs in temples all over the country. The bells are rung 108 times,
symbolic in Buddhism for forgetting the troubles of the previous year.

Although like many countries, Japan was closed to foreign visitors for most of 2020, we sincerely hope to
welcome you to Japan again in 2021. Wishing you a wonderful and prosperous 2021!