Ōmisoka: New Year's Eve in Japan and What People Say That Night

The eve in four phrases

These four lines carry you through 31 December. The first is the goodbye you say to everyone before the New Year. The others name the noodles, the bells and the moment the old year turns into the new one.

Ōsōji: finishing the big clean

Before the New Year, many households do ōsōji (大掃除), the big clean, to welcome the New Year god, toshigami, into a clean home. Families scrub kitchen fans, wipe windows and clear out cupboards, and offices and schools do their own version before the holidays. Many people finish by the 30th, so the 31st is for cooking and resting, but plenty of families are still cleaning on the afternoon of Ōmisoka.

New Year decorations such as kadomatsu and kagami mochi usually go up before the eve. Putting them up on the 31st is often avoided and called ichiya kazari, one-night decorating, which is considered disrespectful to the god; not every family minds.

Saying goodbye to the year

In the last days of December, every farewell comes with two phrases: thanks for this year, then good wishes for the next. Kotoshi mo osewa ni narimashita means thank you for everything this year too, and it is the polite way to close the year with a colleague, teacher, neighbour or shopkeeper. Yoi otoshi o is short for yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai, please welcome a good New Year.

Many workplaces hold their last working day of the year, shigoto osame (仕事納め), a few days before Ōmisoka, so the office version of this goodbye usually comes before the 31st. On the eve itself you will say yoi otoshi o to shop staff, neighbours you pass on the street and friends on the phone. With close friends and family, a casual jā, yoi otoshi o, well then, have a good one, is warm and natural.

Toshikoshi soba and the evening at home

Toshikoshi soba is the one fixed dish of the evening. Families eat it for dinner or as a late snack before midnight, hot in broth or cold with dipping sauce, with toppings such as tempura prawns, spring onions or herring in some regions. One common explanation is that long noodles stand for a long life; another is that soba breaks easily, so it cuts off the troubles of the old year. Many people say you should finish it before midnight, but family habits differ.

Many households also watch a long year-end music show on TV in which famous singers form two teams, red and white, and compete in a friendly way; people call it Kōhaku (紅白), red and white. Others watch comedy specials or sports, and the debate over the remote control is part of the tradition.

Midnight: bells, countdowns and the switch

Around midnight, many Buddhist temples ring their great bells: joya no kane. At many temples the bell is struck 108 times, traditionally linked to the 108 worldly desires, bonnō (煩悩), with the final strike around or just after midnight. Some temples let visitors queue to strike it; others do not, and a few have changed the timing. Some people walk to a shrine right after midnight for the first visit of the year, hatsumōde (初詣).

Young people in cities may go to countdown events, but at home the countdown is often just the family watching the clock on TV. At midnight the greetings switch instantly.

Mini dialogue: a phone call before midnight

The first sunrise, and common mistakes

Some people stay up, or get up very early, to see hatsuhinode (初日の出), the first sunrise of the year, from a beach, a hill or a rooftop. It is a quiet, cold and beautiful way to end the night.

• Saying akemashite omedetō before midnight. Before the New Year, it is always yoi otoshi o.
• Saying yoi otoshi o on 1 January. After midnight, switch greetings.
• Expecting a party. Many Japanese people spend the evening quietly with family; ask what your hosts usually do.
• Calling Ōmisoka a holiday. It is not a public holiday, though many workplaces are already closed.