Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu!
New Year’s Day in Japan is one of the most important annual events. One of the most wonderful traditions is the eating noodles which is associated with longevity; people who eat noodles at the end of a year do so in the hope of living a long and fulfilled life.
I visited Japan many years ago as a child and have always found it a most fascinating place. We called into the ports of Kobe, Yokohama and Tokyo on the old Oriana when air travel was not so prevalent in the mid-1960’s as it is today. We were traveling from the South Pacific to the UK on inter-tour leave. Normally inter-tour leave got you from A to B directly, however my wonderful mother who was a nurse saved all her beanies and planned extended trips back to the UK; what we missed in education, we gained travelling the world!
Japan is amazingly traditional and yet so westernised in its lifestyle and this is always the great fascination. As the clock approaches midnight the bells toll at Buddhist temples; each bell is tolled 108 times - they believe that a human being has 108 worldly desires and the tolling of the bells will drive them out. At midnight the Shinto shrines are the center for all to pay homage, pray and wish for good luck for the coming year. New Year cards are delivered exactly on the 1st January and children look forward to New Year gifts of otoshidama (cash). Much feasting and family get togethers make New Year’s Day in Japan a wonderful traditional celebration.
I will be eating my lovely bowl of noodles as usual!
Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu Japan!
