Oshogatsu | Teens' Photo Project | Child Research Net(CRN)

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Oshogatsu

Place	:	Kyoto
Taken by	:	S. I. (Doshisha International Junior/Senior High School)

Look! This is a picture of Hatsumoude. Many people visit the Shrine on January 1.
[January 1] is an English word that refers to [Oshogatsu] in Japanese.
It is part of Japanese Culture!
People pray for their health and happiness at Shrine this year.
These activities are Hatsumoude in Japanese.

This Animal is a fox.
Why does he stay in the Shrine?
Because old people believed that he is a messenger of God. So he stays in the Shrine.

This is called Osechi by Japanese people.
Osechi is food. It is God's, so we eat it.
All family eats this Osechi during Oshogatsu.
Osechi is made with the utmost care for the good health of the family.
There are many kind of dishes!
This picture is the third layer in a tiered box.
There are many vegetables in that one.
Long ago, these were the main dishes.
So old people are looking forward to eating this tray.

This layer is the second tier.
There is much Seafood in this tray.
This tray is very gorgeous!
Fish and Meat are boiled over fire.
Vegetables are cooked with vinegar.

This step is called a substitute for mouth.

This layer is the first tier.
There are many food to celebrate happiness.
And many sweet dishes in this step.
Because long time ago sweet dishes were very precious. So people ate sweet things only when there was the happiest thing [like Oshogatsu]

Oshogatsu is Japanese word that refers to the New Year in English. Other countries don't celebrate reaching New Year as much. Why do Japanese celebrate [Oshogatsu] ?
Long ago, people had a much shorter life. In Japan, how did people count their age?
All people added one year to their age on January 1. People might feel relief: “I am alive now.” Japanese people's faith is very deep. Japanese believe in Shintoism. That is, there are many, many gods in this world. We must believe in all of them.
So people have gratitude to them. We go to a Shrine, we make Osechi, we play a Hukuwarai… All is for the gods.

So all families gather in their hometowns. People always are very busy. We can't meet relatives for most of the year. Oshogatsu is a chance for meeting relatives. So all families gather in their hometowns. And people celebrate that we could reach another New Year. I think Oshogatsu is a good event of Japanese culture!

Child Research Net would like to thank the Doshisha International Junior/Senior High School and Saya Ikeda student and author, for permitting reproduction of this article on the CRN web site.