Celebrating new year

2025/06/30

How and with whom do you spend new year holiday seasons?

How about when you were a kid?

My friend Kayo talked to me about how she spent the new year holiday season. She told me that celebrating the new year is one of the most important family events but it has been changing as she grows older.

Image of the first prayer in a shrine

Kayo after her first prayer

Kayo is in her late twenties and lives in Tokyo with her parents. She is a full-time occupational therapist.

When she was a child, her family used to return to Aomori, her father’s hometown in new year holidays. It’s the family’s tradition to spend new year holidays at her grandparents on her father’s side’s house to celebrate new year and honor their ancestors. On new year’s eve, they ate special soba for the last day of the year. Then, they would go to the shrine together. That is the first visit of the year to a shrine to celebrate the new year. On new year days, January 1st to 3rd, the families, relatives, neighbors and friends gathered at her grandparents’ house to celebrate the new year and honor ancestors. They had parties for a couple of days, eating special food for the new year and drinking, talking about what happens in their life and reflecting on the good old days. People were excited to sing and dance to welcome the new year and to pray for the people’s health and wellbeing. The children were excited running and playing games around the adults, eating, drinking and talking. Kayo always looked forward to joining these family events around new year’s eve and new year days with her family and relatives.

As Kayo grew, however, the family rarely visited their hometown, Aomori, during the new year holiday season. Kayo spent the new year holiday in Tokyo with her parents and her grandparents on her mother’s side. Kayo also loved to celebrate the new year holiday with her family in Tokyo. Kayo ate soba at home, and would talk about what goes on in her day to day life and about what happened in the past year. Then they would visit the shrine to show gratitude to the gods to welcome the new year. They prayed for the whole family’s health and wellbeing. Then they would return home and would have a traditional meal and drink to celebrate the new year. During the new year holiday, the family also enjoyed relaxing together more than any other time in the year, playing games and chatting endlessly. 

However, since Kayo started working for a rehabilitation hospital, she often works on December 31st and January 1st. She misses visiting the shrine for the first prayer with her family. So, she visits the shrine by herself on her day off later but she doesn’t feel a sense of the new year as deeply. At the first prayer by herself, she feels lonelier and is unhappy compared to the other first prayers with her family. Finally, she realizes the importance of the first prayer with her family.