PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Omisoka is New Year’s Eve in Japan. The Japanese spend days of preparation for Omisoka. The spring cleaning, Osouji, begins in the beginning of December. Keeping with tradition, the Japanese clean their houses, schools and businesses from top to bottom. They settle all debts, obligations and problems in relationships.
Kadomatsu decorates each side of the front entrance. Pine boughs, bamboo and bamboo grass compose the kadomatsu. Toshigami (a god) brings great blessings to clean buildings decorated with kadomatsu. A shimekazari(a rope of straw with dangling strips of paper) hangs above the door. It prevents malevolent spirits from entering the buildings.
New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year's Day, which is the most important day of the year.
Traditions
People clean their houses and eat a large meal, and at 11 p.m. gather around to have one last meal of toshikoshi-soba (noodles). This is a tradition that comes from the belief that eating long noodles will give you a long life and help you cross from one year to the next!
Another reason much food is made on the last day of the year is that it is considered unlucky to cook in your kitchen for the first three days of the New Year, and most businesses are closed.
At midnight temples not only toll their bell to signify human desires that cause suffering, but they also hand out a traditional sweet drink called Amazake. The toll of the large bell is called joya-no-kane.
On December 31, Japan has a national broadcast called the Red vs. White Singing contest, where contestants compete against each other up until a half hour before midnight (a bit like a New Year’s American Idol).
