Celebrating new year as an occupation

2025/07/29

Previously, I wrote about my friend Kayo’s story of her new year holiday. She told me that she realized that celebrating new year is very important for her. Today, I want to share with you more about a view of celebrating new year as an occupation from these angles:

              the form of the occupation of celebrating new year,

the function of the occupation,

              and the meaning of the occupation.

To look at the new year holiday in a big occupational picture, let’s imagine Kayo engaging in celebrating new year.

Celebrating new year as an occupation

Image of the first prayer in a shrine

Kayo after her first prayer

Situation: New years eve and the new year is the period between December 31st to the first week, or even after that, in Japan. Many schools, government offices and companies are closed. People usually celebrate new years eve and new years days with traditional family events. One of these events is the first prayer of the year in a shrine. People go to a shrine where they show gratitude to the gods, honor ancestors and pray for their health and wellbeing. It’s a traditional and symbolic ceremony to celebrate the new year. For the new year’s days, relatives and families gather and have parties, eating, drinking and praying for their health and wellbeing.

Kayo is in her late twenties and lives in Tokyo with her parents. She works for a hospital as a full-time therapist.

The form of the occupation: When Kayo was a child, her family spent the new year’s holiday in her father’s hometown, Aomori, with lots of the relatives and her family. As she grew, her family didn’t spend the new year holiday in Aomori. They spent it in Tokyo. Kayo’s family visited the shrine for their first prayer of the year and spent the new year at home together.  However, once Kayo started her job, then she would sometimes have to work on new years eve and/or new years days. So, she would go to the shrine for the first prayer by herself. At the time, she felt very lonely and didn’t feel like celebrating the new year.  

The function of the occupation: During new year holiday, people pray to the gods and participate in parties mainly with relatives. They reflect on what happened in the good old days and pray for people’s health and wellbeing in the new year. People pray to the gods, communicate, and interact with their relatives. These occupations promote them to confirm their identities and a sense of belonging, then pass it down to the next generations who may participate in these occupations. When Kayo was a child, she spent the new year holiday with children and adults in her family. Being protected by them, she was raised in a way that made her feel a strong sense of belonging. This sense of belonging will always exist within her. So, she prays for her whole family’s health and wellbeing in her first prayer in Tokyo. By participating in the first prayer and new year’s gatherings, she can reaffirm her identity repeatedly and look forward to the future. However, when visiting the shrine by herself, Kayo couldn’t reaffirm her identity and sense of belonging. She felt lonely and was not satisfied socially.

The meaning of the occupation: For Kayo, celebrating new year reaffirmed her sense of belonging to groups like her family. She felt protected, safe, and reaffirmed her identity repeatedly. She has learned how to become a traditional Japanese through these occupations. As she grows older, however, she will go out on her own someday and find a sense of belonging to a new group, such as through work or marriage. She may start a family someday and may take on a different role or different responsibilities with this family.