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All articles · Page 18
Nanakusa-gayu: Japan's Seven-Herb Porridge on 7 January
Nanakusa-gayu (七草がゆ) is a light rice porridge with seven young spring herbs that many Japanese families eat on the morning of 7 January. It is a wish for good health in the new year and a gentle meal for stomachs tired from New Year food and drink.
9 min readOtoshidama: Japanese New Year Money for Children, and What to Say
Otoshidama (お年玉) is New Year money that adults give to children, usually relatives, in small decorated envelopes called pochibukuro. It is given in the first days of January, usually in crisp new banknotes, with a short greeting such as daiji ni tsukatte ne, spend it wisely.
10 min readHatsuyume: Japan's First Dream of the Year and Ichi Fuji Ni Taka
Hatsuyume (初夢) is the first dream of the new year, and in Japan it is said to hint at your luck for the year ahead. The luckiest things to dream of are summed up in the saying ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi: first Mount Fuji, second a hawk, third an aubergine.
9 min readHatsuhinode: Watching Japan's First Sunrise of the Year
Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year, on the morning of 1 January. Many people in Japan get up early or stay up all night to watch it from a beach, a hilltop or a high building, and greet it with a quiet wish for the year ahead.
9 min readKagami Mochi and Kagami Biraki: Japan's New Year Rice Cakes
Kagami mochi (鏡餅) is a New Year decoration of two round rice cakes stacked one on the other, usually topped with a small orange. It is an offering to the New Year god, and in January it is broken up and eaten in a custom called kagami biraki, usually on 11 January.
10 min readOzōni: Japan's New Year Mochi Soup and How It Changes by Region
Ozōni (お雑煮) is the soup with mochi that many Japanese families eat on the mornings of the New Year holiday. It changes from region to region and from family to family: in much of eastern Japan it is square grilled mochi in a clear soy-and-dashi broth, while in Kyoto it is round mochi in sweet white miso.
9 min readYoi Otoshi o Meaning: Saying Have a Good New Year in Japanese
Yoi otoshi o (良いお年を) means have a good New Year, and Japanese people say it as a goodbye in the last weeks of December. It is short for yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai, please welcome a good new year, so it is only used before the year changes, never after 1 January.
11 min readOkagesama de Meaning: The Japanese Thank You for Good News
Okagesama de (おかげさまで) means roughly thanks to you and everyone, and Japanese people say it when sharing good news about themselves: that they are well, that something went smoothly, that a business is doing fine. It is a modest, polite way of crediting the people around you rather than taking all the credit yourself.
11 min readOsewa ni Natte Orimasu Meaning: The Business Japanese Opener
Osewa ni natte orimasu (お世話になっております) means roughly thank you for your continued support, and it is the standard first line of Japanese business emails and phone calls to clients and partners. Literally it says I am (we are) in your care, and it is used even with people you have never met, because it refers to the relationship between the two companies.
11 min readJapanese Year-End Business Email: Greetings and Closure Notices
A Japanese year-end business email (年末の挨拶メール) thanks the reader for their support this year, tells them when your office will be closed over the New Year, and wishes them a good new year. It is usually sent in the second half of December, before your last working day, and follows a fixed order that readers expect.
11 min readJapanese New Year Business Email and Greetings for Clients
A Japanese New Year business email (年始の挨拶メール) opens with a New Year greeting, thanks the reader for last year using kyūnenchū (旧年中), and asks for their support again this year with honnen mo yoroshiku onegai mōshiagemasu. The same lines are said in person at the first meeting of the year, often during a short visit to a client in the first week of January.
11 min readShinnenkai: The Japanese New Year Party at Work and What to Say
A shinnenkai (新年会) is a New Year party held in January, usually by a workplace, club or group, to celebrate the start of the year together. It looks a lot like the year-end bōnenkai, with food, drinks and a toast, but its mood looks forward: people greet each other for the new year and often share a goal for the year ahead.
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