Thursday, February 20, 2014

Japanese New Year: Oshogatsu Festival 2014

The New Year celebration in Japan is called the Oshogatsu Festival. It's more solemn and traditional as compared to that of the Philippines, and other Western countries.

For the New Year's eve, we travelled to Tokyo to celebrate it with my Japanese uncle and his mother. But before heading to their house in Tokyo, we stopped by Hachioji to shop for food at Costco. There were so many shoppers getting ready for the NYE.


When we arrived at my uncle's house, we cleaned it up a bit then we headed to the onsen (public bath). There were actually a lot of customers that night. After that, we picked up my cousin and aunt's bestfriend at the bus station and we went to Don Quijote to go shopping. Imagine, it's around 10pm and we're still shopping on NYE.


We all went back to the house and got ready for the NYE dinner (Media Noche in Pinoy culture). We had a very simple NYE dinner. The staple food for NYE dinner in Japan is the soba. After dinner, we headed to the Jindaiji Temple. It's a tradition in Japan to visit shrines/temples on NYE. There were a lot of people lining up to throw coins and pray or make a wish. Surprisingly, I saw a lot of groups of young people at the temple. While some were at the New Year countdown at Shibuya crossing and in some clubs/bars, there were still a long of youngsters who still celebrate the NYE traditionally. 



 photo IMG_1402_zpse2777c8e.jpg
year of the horse
 photo IMG_1401_zpsea2ba788.jpg
wine
 photo IMG_1399_zpsc2395501.jpg
food!
 photo IMG_1404_zpsf273b397.jpg
small temple
 photo IMG_1407_zpse415ff15.jpg
main temple (while we were in line)
 photo IMG_1406_zps6782c0dd.jpg
that's a small fountain
 photo IMG_1328_zps091d25b8.jpg
while waiting for our turn
 photo IMG_1408_zps1d66e9f4.jpg
where people get their omikuji
 photo IMG_1333_zps37fc3557.jpg

The next day, we had brunch. We shared the "osechi", a set of traditional Japanese New Year food in a special box called, "jubako". Each food symbolizes something, such as health, wealth, and good fortune. After brunch, we hit Harajuku area for shopping. New Year's Day shopping is probably the craziest shopping day of the year in Japan. I'll be making a different post about it, as this post focuses on Japanese New Year.


 photo IMG_1409_zpsd95d3cda.jpg

Anyway, the next day, my aunt's friend gave me an "otoshidama" or New Year money, along with an "omikuji", a piece of paper that talks about my fortune. Unfortunately, I got bad fortune, or "kyo". I must get at least a "kichi" or blessing. To reverse the bad fortune, we went to Suwataisha Temple and tied the piece of paper containing bad fortune at the temple. Then I picked a new number. When I got the piece of paper, it read "kichi", or blessing. Finally! Well, you can check Wikipedia on their meanings.


 photo IMG_1504_zps1c276944.jpg
really bad fortune (1st omikuji)
 photo IMG_1450_zps3859ebef.jpg
Suwataisha Temple
 photo IMG_1453_zpsbc97b405.jpg
me and my aunt
 photo IMG_1456_zpsadf23379.jpg
Onbashira
 photo IMG_1459_zps52be0324.jpg
big Japanese drum
 photo IMG_1463_zpsb1150453.jpg
people waiting for their turns to pray
 photo IMG_1466_zps4a1cfd88.jpg
must let go of the bad luck by my first omikuji
 photo IMG_1472_zps1730e543.jpg
getting a number (it's written on a stick)
then there's a corresponding omikuji for the number that I got
 photo IMG_1474_zps500ac009.jpg
 photo IMG_1477_zps4255be9c.jpg
it's their version of holy water
 photo IMG_1479_zps7072b6c7.jpg
the main entrance
 photo IMG_1485_zpsd937e437.jpg
tried it for the first time
 photo IMG_1489_zps51197631.jpg
traditional Japanese house

So that's the traditional Japanese New Year. Far from how I usually celebrate it in the Philippines, but this experience has been really worth it.



xoxo,


city girl


1 comment:

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Japanese New Year: Oshogatsu Festival 2014

The New Year celebration in Japan is called the Oshogatsu Festival. It's more solemn and traditional as compared to that of the Philippines, and other Western countries.

For the New Year's eve, we travelled to Tokyo to celebrate it with my Japanese uncle and his mother. But before heading to their house in Tokyo, we stopped by Hachioji to shop for food at Costco. There were so many shoppers getting ready for the NYE.


When we arrived at my uncle's house, we cleaned it up a bit then we headed to the onsen (public bath). There were actually a lot of customers that night. After that, we picked up my cousin and aunt's bestfriend at the bus station and we went to Don Quijote to go shopping. Imagine, it's around 10pm and we're still shopping on NYE.


We all went back to the house and got ready for the NYE dinner (Media Noche in Pinoy culture). We had a very simple NYE dinner. The staple food for NYE dinner in Japan is the soba. After dinner, we headed to the Jindaiji Temple. It's a tradition in Japan to visit shrines/temples on NYE. There were a lot of people lining up to throw coins and pray or make a wish. Surprisingly, I saw a lot of groups of young people at the temple. While some were at the New Year countdown at Shibuya crossing and in some clubs/bars, there were still a long of youngsters who still celebrate the NYE traditionally. 



 photo IMG_1402_zpse2777c8e.jpg
year of the horse
 photo IMG_1401_zpsea2ba788.jpg
wine
 photo IMG_1399_zpsc2395501.jpg
food!
 photo IMG_1404_zpsf273b397.jpg
small temple
 photo IMG_1407_zpse415ff15.jpg
main temple (while we were in line)
 photo IMG_1406_zps6782c0dd.jpg
that's a small fountain
 photo IMG_1328_zps091d25b8.jpg
while waiting for our turn
 photo IMG_1408_zps1d66e9f4.jpg
where people get their omikuji
 photo IMG_1333_zps37fc3557.jpg

The next day, we had brunch. We shared the "osechi", a set of traditional Japanese New Year food in a special box called, "jubako". Each food symbolizes something, such as health, wealth, and good fortune. After brunch, we hit Harajuku area for shopping. New Year's Day shopping is probably the craziest shopping day of the year in Japan. I'll be making a different post about it, as this post focuses on Japanese New Year.


 photo IMG_1409_zpsd95d3cda.jpg

Anyway, the next day, my aunt's friend gave me an "otoshidama" or New Year money, along with an "omikuji", a piece of paper that talks about my fortune. Unfortunately, I got bad fortune, or "kyo". I must get at least a "kichi" or blessing. To reverse the bad fortune, we went to Suwataisha Temple and tied the piece of paper containing bad fortune at the temple. Then I picked a new number. When I got the piece of paper, it read "kichi", or blessing. Finally! Well, you can check Wikipedia on their meanings.


 photo IMG_1504_zps1c276944.jpg
really bad fortune (1st omikuji)
 photo IMG_1450_zps3859ebef.jpg
Suwataisha Temple
 photo IMG_1453_zpsbc97b405.jpg
me and my aunt
 photo IMG_1456_zpsadf23379.jpg
Onbashira
 photo IMG_1459_zps52be0324.jpg
big Japanese drum
 photo IMG_1463_zpsb1150453.jpg
people waiting for their turns to pray
 photo IMG_1466_zps4a1cfd88.jpg
must let go of the bad luck by my first omikuji
 photo IMG_1472_zps1730e543.jpg
getting a number (it's written on a stick)
then there's a corresponding omikuji for the number that I got
 photo IMG_1474_zps500ac009.jpg
 photo IMG_1477_zps4255be9c.jpg
it's their version of holy water
 photo IMG_1479_zps7072b6c7.jpg
the main entrance
 photo IMG_1485_zpsd937e437.jpg
tried it for the first time
 photo IMG_1489_zps51197631.jpg
traditional Japanese house

So that's the traditional Japanese New Year. Far from how I usually celebrate it in the Philippines, but this experience has been really worth it.



xoxo,


city girl


1 comment: