As December draws to a close, Japan is getting ready for Oshogatsu (New Year’s Day), by far the most important holiday in the country. But before we can start the new year there’s plenty of work to do, beginning with osoji (oh-SOH-jee), the year-end “big cleaning” that everyone does here, scrubbing their home from top to bottom, re-papering the shoji doors, replacing the family toothbrushes with new ones, and washing the car so it’s spic and span for the new year. This year-end cleaning isn’t just a way to make the house presentable for company: it’s based on a Japanese custom called susuharai, a year-end cleansing of dirt and cobwebs that’s been done at Buddhist temples for centuries. Companies do “big cleaning” too, and tomorrow is the day when all J-List employees will stop work and spend several hours sweeping, vacuuming and wiping every inch of the office, washing the windows and even the front door. Between cleaning, Year End Parties and stocking up on food for the first few days of January when most stores are closed, people are extra busy this time of year. In fact, the old name for the month of December is Shiwasu (she-WA-su), which literally means “the month when Buddhist Priests are running around being very busy.”
