Hello again from J-List, now in Las Vegas, where we’ve taken the kids for some post-Christmas relaxation. We hope you had a great Holiday!
2009 is winding down, as everyone looks back to reflect on all this year has held for us. Right now it’s the season for bounen-kai or “Forget-the-Year” parties in Japan, and any bar, restaurant or izakaya (a kind of cozy traditional Japanese pub-restaurant) you visit will be crowded with groups of people having these year-end parties. Since it’s naturally a big time for Japan’s major beer manufacturers, there are plenty of advertisements in trains and around town promoting good times with friends and lots of ice-cold Asahi Super Dry or Kirin Ichiban Shibori to go with it. Not only does Japan have traditional Year-End Parties as an excuse for friends to get together and drink, there are New Year’s Party for celebrating the new year that’s just begun, held in January. Japan does love to drink socially, and even has a word for the concept: “nomunication,” which is the word nomu (to drink) + the English word “communication.”
Japan’s beer companies are heavily advertising for “Year-End Parties.”
