Well, it’s time to say goodbye to another year. We hope 2018 has been a good one for you, and that you have a safe and fun crossing into 2019!
The ending of a year and the beginning of a new one is a big deal in Japan, where New Year’s Day is far and away the most important holiday of the year. The country pretty much closes down from December 29 through January 3, with most every business, museum, and gym closing for the duration. While Christmas is usually an excuse to have a loud party with friends, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are solemn events spent in contemplation on the events of the past year, and a fervent wish for good luck in the new year.
New Year’s Eve is also time to watch the biggest music show of the year, Kouhaku Uta Gassen, a “song battle” between male and female teams, who perform the best songs of the year while all of Japan watches. It’s fun to watch every year, plotting the evening bath time so I can avoid missing the acts I want to catch. Afterwards it’s time for my favorite program, Yuku Toshi, Kuru Toshi (Departing Year, Coming Year), which starts at 11:45 pm. It features camera crews sending live feeds of the thousands of people visiting beautiful Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and Christian churches to pray for good luck as soon as the new year begins, while a narrator gives commentary on the history of each holy place, and what challenges the people visiting have faced during the year. Then without fanfare or countdown, the clock displays 0:00, and the new year has come.
I’m spending my first New Year’s in Tokyo, which has become a ghost town as most people depart for their parents’ homes to visit with family and eat mikan orange while sitting in the kotatsu. I’ll be at Meiji Jingu shrine with some friends, hoping to survive the cold long enough to offer New Year’s prayers, but knowing that there’ll be a huge number of people there. (My fallback position is Suga Shrine, seen in Your Name.)
Thanks for all your awesome support of J-List over the past year, and please have a great 2019!
Japan doesn’t believe in doing things by half measures, as you can probably tell by the huge popularity of these life-sized oppai and oshiri mousepads from SoftGarage. J-List has enjoyed selling these fun products in 2018, and we’ll bring even more awesome ones to you in the new year. Browse them all here.
