Christmas & New Years in Japan

Christmas & New Years in Japan

When we moved to Japan in 1978, it was a surprise to me how many Japanese are Christians—I hadn’t seen the movie Shogun. Those of you who have, or have read the book, will know there have been Christian missionaries in Japan since the 16th century. And as in the U.S., there is now a great deal of merchandizing geared to Christmas. Even though I learned to accept this intellectually, it was still a surprise to me each Christmas to find shops decked out in holly and tinsel. One friend told me that on Christmas morning, someone opened her door and politely called out “sumi-masen.” It was Santa Claus. Red suit, white whiskers and flip-flops. He had arrived with toys for her children, which a Japanese friend had ordered from a local toy store. One of my favorite signs each Christmas appeared in a downtown store window: a large Star of David with MERRY CHRISTMAS written across it.

Keeping a traditional Christmas was not a problem. We always had a houseful of people—well, with four kids, we start with a houseful. Our Japanese friends were as curious about our customs as we were about theirs and they had as many preconceived notions as we did. Our family would open our packages in the morning and then start preparing the feast. I always had volunteers to help prepare the turkey, an oddity to most Japanese, and one they generally claimed to find delicious.

To repay our hospitality at Christmas, we were always invited to keep New Years with our Japanese friends, and that is what I’d like to tell you about today.

New Years begins several days before the event for the Japanese housewife. She must prepare food for the first three days of the New Year—for her family and for friends who will surely drop in to wish them well. She will not cook during those first three days—a custom so ingrained, grocery stores close January 1st and don’t reopen until the 4th. The foods she prepares will be beautifully presented, often in a lacquer-ware jubako. Lots of vegetables, dried or pickled fish, fruit and of course, rice and tofu. Refrigerator space is limited, but most Japanese homes are so cold in winter, it doesn’t present much of a problem.

Mochi is a traditional New Year experience—one I can’t say I enjoyed the eating of, but the preparation is great fun and involves a lot of sake. A mound of hot, steamed rice is placed in a special hollowed-out tree stump. A little water is added and men take turns pounding it with a heavy mallet. When it has become the consistency of bread dough, it is turned over to the women, who divide it into pieces about the size of a walnut. Each piece is then wrapped around a little marble-sized nugget of red sweetened bean paste—a delicacy. It is the custom to eat mochi on New Years for good luck. Unfortunately, it is not good luck for everyone. It is such a gummy, gooey mass, that each year choking deaths are attributed to it in the very young and the very old.

There are several traditional games played during New Year. Beautiful and expensive battledores are favored by the girls, also card games and games of skill and chance. And there are drinking games for adults—sake and beer flow freely during this season.

I have generalized quite a bit up to this point. Let me go back and be a little more specific regarding our experiences. Last New Year’s Eve, we were invited to a party at the home of friends, Dr. and Mrs. Iishi. The biggest shrimp I have ever seen were laid out on the buffet along with Peking pressed duck, strawberries the size of golf balls, sushi, sashimi, fried chicken, tofu, rice, beef and at least a dozen more dishes. This was a party for adults and children. We had planned to drive en masse into the mountains to a village shrine for the midnight festivities. Unfortunately, snow prevented this and we had to reconcile ourselves to watching a telecast similar to our Times Square telecast.

Painting of Kintai Bridge in summer. Iwakuni Castle is at the top of the mountain on the right.

The next day, New Years, we were up and on the road early with the entire family. There was a special celebration planned by the town at Kintai Bridge, a local landmark—a five-arched wooden bridge across the Nishiki River. The bridge has been designated a National Treasure. At 7:00 AM, a local Karate club began the show with a rigid test of endurance. The temperature was hovering just above freezing and a strong wind was funneled down the gorge. As we huddled on the bridge in our warm wool jackets, hats and gloves, we watched the club members on the river bank below. They were dressed in their white gi (cotton pajamas), barefoot, doing warm-up exercises. Suddenly, they shrugged out of their thick cotton jackets and walked to the river’s edge then plunged in, not stopping until the water was chest high. Then, they turned toward their leader and began a series of choreographed moves. We were impressed.

Later in the day, we went to the home of some other friends, Dr. and Mrs Nibu. We were served the customary ceremonial sake from beautiful lacquer cups. Each person is given three small drinks. The sake is the highest grad, #1, and sometimes has actual flakes of gold in it for good health. After the sake drinking and a little conversation, we went to a local Buddhist shrine, another tradition. Only those who have suffered the death of a loved one in the past year are exempt from visiting a shrine on New Years, as it is not wished to inflict a sad face on Buddha on this most happy day. For the occasion, most women don their most beautiful and elaborate kimono, making the scene like a flower show, each blossom more beautiful and brilliant than the one before.

After our visit to the shrine, we returned with Dr. Nibu to his home for yet another feast.

Though the Americans have to return to work January 2nd, the Japanese continue to celebrate through the 3rd, with parties and gift-giving, their homes decorated with special flower arrangements and their cars with good luck ornaments made from woven reeds and tangerines. Each year, in a seven year cycle, is the year of an animal. We arrived in Japan during the year of the horse and saw in the years of the sheep, the monkey and the chicken. The special benefit to Americans living in Japan over the holidays is that the day doesn’t come and go, leaving you with a pile of wrapping paper and empty boxes the next day. It is a days-long celebration of life. A wonderful experience.