Mokibana instead of a Christmas tree, or New Year in Japan

The Japanese are beginning to prepare for this so important holiday for them long before it comes. All the necessary attributes can be purchased at festive fairs. In addition to gifts, there you can buy talismans, amulets and other ritual items necessary for the New Year. One of the most important talismans is considered to be a small rake made of bamboo, which symbolize a bear paw - kumade - and are designed to rake in happiness. Common defenders are blunted arrows with plumage of white color, which are called hamaimi. It is believed that they protect the house from evil forces and various ills.

Since the New Year in Japan is a pretty significant symbol of a new life, it is also a new decoration. Therefore, the Japanese prepare the dresses in advance and take it seriously enough, because it is believed that the new clothes will bring good luck and health next year.

A lot of attention to the Japanese and decorating the space. The streets of cities in the New Year's time are built up with ice castles and snow sculptures. At the entrance to the dwelling is customary to put kadomatsu - pine, woven with bamboo straw rope and decorated with fern, mandarins, algae and shrimp. She, according to beliefs, will bring the longevity of pine, the durability of bamboo, the purity and fecundity of the fern, the rope from the straw will protect from evil spirits, mandarins and shrimp will also give long years of life, and algae - happiness.

New Year in Japan can not do without motifs - ritual koloboks or rice flour cakes. Moti is prepared for a festive table, as well as molded in the form of fish, flowers, fruits, etc., to decorate them with mochibana. Motibana is a Christmas composition made of bamboo or willow branches, decorated with motifs and painted in green, pink and yellow. Motibana should stand in a prominent place or hang at the entrance to the ceiling, so that the New Year's deity, entering the house, remembered about their duties and gave happiness to each of the tenants.

Japanese traditions associated with the New Year

The way the New Year is celebrated in Japan seems incredible and incomprehensible, as there are many differences from Western traditions. Thus, about the coming of the New Year at midnight, not 12, but as many as 108 bells of Buddhist temples are announced . According to the beliefs, every blow defeats one of the human vices. In the New Year, there are streams of people going to the temples, which should be visited in New Year's clothes. There is also a tradition to go out on the streets with the first rays of the sun and give gifts to all those close and just acquainted. It is believed that at that moment a magical ship with seven gods of happiness aboard swims to the shores of Japan. The models of this scene decorate the houses of the Japanese during the festive season, and the pictures with its image children are hidden in the New Year's night under the pillow.

For the New Year in Japan, as well as with us, it is customary to gather at the table with the whole family. But unlike ours, the Japanese New Year's Eve is quietly and quietly without drinking songs and noisy conversations, so as not to distract anyone from thinking about the coming year. On the table must be present traditional dishes: long noodles, personifying longevity, carp, symbolizing strength, beans, meaning health, and, of course, moti - the main ritual meal in the New Year.
The main fun in the New Year holidays are playing in a shuttlecock and launching a kite.

It is very important for the Japanese to give all the acquaintances gifts, send out postcards and visit guests. As a rule, every morning of the New Year everyone compares the lists of congratulated friends with the people who congratulated him. If someone is missing, you should immediately send him a congratulation. As guests go to all families, visits are often limited to the fact that a note with congratulations is left on a special table.

Nothing can compare to how the New Year in Japan is celebrated. This is a whole layer of ceremonies and old traditions, it is an unforgettable and vivid manifestation of the original Japanese culture.