TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Greeting the New Year the Traditional Way, at a Temple or a Shrine Can Be a FROSTY EXPERIENCE at Midnight- Make sure to Bundle Up!- or stay home and watch tv like most Japanese!
1 January, 2020
By Avi Landau
According to the old Japanese calendar, the last day of each month is called MISOKA (晦日). The last day of the year is OH-MISOKA (大晦日), with the preｆix OH (大） meaning big , great or grand. The expression JOYA (除夜） is used for the evening of the last day of the year. Directly translated this means the evening of removal (of the year). Traditionally, by OHMISOKA, Japanese families should have completed their preparations for welcoming their ancestral spirits and the Toshigami-Sama (God of the New Year), by cleaning their houses, setting up proper New Year’s Decorations, pounding mochi rice cakes, and making (or buying) all the other appropriate New Year’s dishes.