Saturday, December 31, 2005
New Year's Okinawa Style
*New Year, or Oshogatsu, is a time for quiet reflection and subdued celebration with family. Throughout Japan familes celebrate the New Year with gatherings, visits to shrines or temples and calls on relatives and friends bearing gifts.
Some Traditions (old Shinto Traditions):
1. Thorough cleaning of the house.
2. Decorating with traditions ornamentation (which you'll see in a bit).
3. Buying of new clothes.
4. Clearing of all debt before the end of the year.
These and other chores are completed to give people a sense of "starting with a clean slate" and welcoming the new year with an unpolluted spirit.
"Shimenawa" - Sacred rope of straw decorated with a tangerine and konbu (dried seaweed). Usually hung over the front door to mark the temporary abode of the Toshi-Gami (Diety of the incoming year) and help prevent malevolent spirits from entering the house.
Some Traditions (old Shinto Traditions):
1. Thorough cleaning of the house.
2. Decorating with traditions ornamentation (which you'll see in a bit).
3. Buying of new clothes.
4. Clearing of all debt before the end of the year.
These and other chores are completed to give people a sense of "starting with a clean slate" and welcoming the new year with an unpolluted spirit.
"Shimenawa" - Sacred rope of straw decorated with a tangerine and konbu (dried seaweed). Usually hung over the front door to mark the temporary abode of the Toshi-Gami (Diety of the incoming year) and help prevent malevolent spirits from entering the house.
Kagami-Biraki - The little snow man looking thing on the kiln. Two different sized Kagami-Mochi (rice cakes) stacked one on top of the other with an orange on top. The rice cakes are used because during the days of the Samurai, the rice cake would be eaten on January 11 and would usher in a prosperous new year. In Japanese, the color orange is pronounced dai-dai which also means "from generation to generation" and symbolized prosperity.
*Courtesy of Okinawa Living
