Japanese New Year (Oshōgatsu): Customs, Food and Greetings

The New Year calendar in words

The New Year season has its own set of names for days and periods. Knowing them lets you follow conversations about holiday plans, which start well before the end of December.

The period when shops and offices close is often called nenmatsu nenshi, the end and start of the year. Many businesses close for several days around 1 January, though konbini, supermarkets and many shops in city centres stay open or reopen quickly.

Goodbye to the old year: yoi o-toshi o

The first greeting of the season is used before the New Year, not at midnight. When you see a colleague, classmate or neighbour for the last time in December, you wish them a good New Year. This greeting is only for the old year; once 1 January arrives, you switch.

At work, the last day before the break often comes with thanks for the year. Kotoshi mo o-sewa ni narimashita, thank you for all your help this year, is the polite standard.

A common learner mistake is saying akemashite omedetō in December. Akemashite means now that it has opened, so it only makes sense once the year has begun.

Ōmisoka: cleaning, soba and the bells

The last days of December are for ōsōji, the big clean, when homes and often workplaces are cleaned thoroughly to start the year fresh. Decorations then go up: kadomatsu, arrangements of pine and bamboo by the door, shimekazari, a rope decoration for the entrance, and kagami mochi, two stacked rice cakes topped with a bitter orange.

On the evening of 31 December, many families eat toshikoshi soba, year-crossing noodles. A common explanation is that the long, thin noodles stand for a long life, and that soba, which cuts easily, lets you cut off the troubles of the year. Many households also watch the long-running evening music programme on TV.

Around midnight, many Buddhist temples ring their great bell in joya no kane, traditionally 108 times, a number often linked to the worldly desires in Buddhist teaching. Some temples let visitors take a turn.

The first greeting of the year

From midnight, the greeting changes. The full polite version is akemashite omedetō gozaimasu, followed by kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu. The second half is just as important as the first; it asks the other person to continue the relationship this year, and leaving it out can sound a little abrupt with colleagues.

With friends, young people often shorten both halves to akeome and kotoyoro. These are fun and very common in messages at midnight, but they are strictly casual. Never use them with a boss or a client.

Hatsumōde: the first shrine visit

Hatsumōde is the first visit of the year to a shrine or temple, and for many people it is the main outing of the holiday. Famous shrines can be extremely crowded in the first three days, with queues stretching far beyond the gates, so many people go to their local shrine instead or visit later in January.

People pray for health and good fortune for the year, draw omikuji fortune slips, and buy new omamori charms, often returning last year's charms to be burned. Stalls selling food, called yatai, often line the approach at larger shrines. Our guide to temple and shrine etiquette covers how to purify your hands and pray.

If you draw a bad fortune, it is common to tie the slip to a rack or rope at the shrine, leaving the bad luck behind. People also tie good fortunes sometimes, while others keep them.

Osechi and ozōni: New Year food

Osechi ryōri is the traditional New Year food, packed in layered lacquer boxes called jūbako. Each dish carries a meaning, often through wordplay, and most are prepared to keep for several days so that nobody has to cook much during the holiday. Today many families buy osechi from department stores, supermarkets or konbini, often ordered well in advance.

Ozōni, a soup with mochi rice cakes, is the other essential New Year dish. It varies enormously by region and family: clear broth or white miso, square or round mochi, grilled or boiled. Asking someone about their family's ozōni is a lovely conversation starter.

Be careful with mochi. It is sticky and a known choking risk, especially for older people and young children, so it is cut into small pieces and eaten slowly.

Otoshidama: New Year money for children

Otoshidama is money given to children at New Year, usually by parents, grandparents and other relatives. It is placed in small decorated envelopes called pochibukuro, never handed over as loose notes. The amount usually rises with the child's age, and families often have their own unspoken standards, so if you are expected to give, ask your partner or a close friend what is normal in their family.

Children say thank you and often give a small bow. If you are an adult visiting a family with children, you may be expected to give otoshidama, or at least it may be appreciated; again, the family's custom is the guide.

Fukubukuro and the first sales

The first shopping days of the year are called hatsuuri, and they bring fukubukuro, lucky bags. These are sealed bags or boxes sold for a fixed price and filled with goods usually worth more than the price, though you often cannot see exactly what is inside. Clothing brands, cafés, electronics stores and department stores all sell them, and popular ones can sell out quickly or be sold by advance reservation or lottery.

Some stores now show the contents in advance, called nakami ga mieru fukubukuro, so shoppers know what they are getting. Opening a bag and comparing contents with friends is part of the fun.