Revenant
後輩
- 7 Mar 2005
- 615
- 38
- 38
Something to which I have never understood, is the traditions that go along with the week long or more Japanese New Year Holidays. After having lived with my Japanese parent-in-laws for a couple of years, I was always relieved for the New Years holiday to come to an end, and the regular worklife to begin again.
The Japanese tradition is to clean the entire house, prepare a traditional New years dinner, and send out New Years cards before the New Years comes around.
Cleaning the entire house, washing widows, scrubbing walls, showers, replacing shoji paper, are all very time consuming and hard work when the rest is added in.
The Japanese New Years Dinner which includes ricecakes, and a whole lot of specially prepared foods that in themselves take a long time to prepare, I wonder why my mother-in-law complains incessently about having to stay up till three or four in the morning, and then get up again at seven to continue for two or three days in row to finish all this, and then go onto to say she will never do so again, all to do the same the next year. The rest of the family pitches in to help, when we are not cleaning, but still get at least six hours of sleep.
And then the New Years Cards. Those, even using a computer are time consuming, as one must enter all the names, addresses, and messages, choose out and alter a design for the cards, and then send them out before New Years rolls around.
All that is just exhausting, and holds none of the meaning of a holiday, which in my books should be a rest from the busyness of work. It's quite the opposite, and I would prefer work to all that.
Then the New Years rolls around, and most people sleep, or watch TV. That's at least what my family does. We have a New Years dinner, and then a couple family get togethers. But all in all, it is mostly quite boring (I am not a fan of just sleeping and watching TV, and I usually don't watch TV.
A couple years ago, bored, I decided to get out of the house and look at some magazines, or just go to a cafe, or even just rent a video. But nothing was open beyond a few convenience stores. No restaurants, no cafes, no video stores, nothing.
On New years eve, everyone watches special New Year comedy or music programs. Perhaps they might take a trip in the morning to the nearest shrine, but it really isn't what I would call fun. At the strike of twelve, rather than a countdown and cheers, it is the 108 tolls on the bell to purge the 108 worldly desires that we hear.
End rant.
So for those of you who spend, or have spent New Years in Japan, what was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?
The Japanese tradition is to clean the entire house, prepare a traditional New years dinner, and send out New Years cards before the New Years comes around.
Cleaning the entire house, washing widows, scrubbing walls, showers, replacing shoji paper, are all very time consuming and hard work when the rest is added in.
The Japanese New Years Dinner which includes ricecakes, and a whole lot of specially prepared foods that in themselves take a long time to prepare, I wonder why my mother-in-law complains incessently about having to stay up till three or four in the morning, and then get up again at seven to continue for two or three days in row to finish all this, and then go onto to say she will never do so again, all to do the same the next year. The rest of the family pitches in to help, when we are not cleaning, but still get at least six hours of sleep.
And then the New Years Cards. Those, even using a computer are time consuming, as one must enter all the names, addresses, and messages, choose out and alter a design for the cards, and then send them out before New Years rolls around.
All that is just exhausting, and holds none of the meaning of a holiday, which in my books should be a rest from the busyness of work. It's quite the opposite, and I would prefer work to all that.
Then the New Years rolls around, and most people sleep, or watch TV. That's at least what my family does. We have a New Years dinner, and then a couple family get togethers. But all in all, it is mostly quite boring (I am not a fan of just sleeping and watching TV, and I usually don't watch TV.
A couple years ago, bored, I decided to get out of the house and look at some magazines, or just go to a cafe, or even just rent a video. But nothing was open beyond a few convenience stores. No restaurants, no cafes, no video stores, nothing.
On New years eve, everyone watches special New Year comedy or music programs. Perhaps they might take a trip in the morning to the nearest shrine, but it really isn't what I would call fun. At the strike of twelve, rather than a countdown and cheers, it is the 108 tolls on the bell to purge the 108 worldly desires that we hear.
End rant.
So for those of you who spend, or have spent New Years in Japan, what was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?