Article No.1 Preparing for a New Year
After the Christmas holiday has come and gone, people quickly start preparing for one of the biggest events on the Japanese calendar, new years. For most people in Japan, the new years holiday is a time to clean our houses, cook special foods, decorate our houses and cars with special new year’s ornaments, write new years greeting cards to all our friends, family and business associates and of course, visit our relatives.
Cleaning our houses is key since most people, myself included, need to literally and symbolically get rid of the unwanted things in our lives to prepare for the new year. We always want to start everything fresh from January 1st. After cleaning our houses, many families attach this kind of ornament above their front doors to protect the house and family from any unwelcoming energy, while at the same time, inviting positive energy into our houses. Each town uses its own method or materials to construct these ornaments and generally people take them down after January 7th. In contrast, generally, people in Ise keep the ornaments on their houses for the entire year. I don't know why, but I aim to find out!
If you are visiting the Ise area during the new year season, please pay special attention to the houses and shops and how they decorate. You can definitely sense the spirit of Japanese people celebrating the new year.