What are the traditions of the first month in Japan?

The first month in Japan is also the Japanese New Year.

Japanese New Year refers to the Spring Festival of Yamato people in Japan and other parts of the world. It is the most important festival of the Yamato people in a year, and it is also called the first month (しょぅがち). The first month was originally the first month of the lunar calendar. After the Meiji Restoration, it was changed to the Gregorian calendar, and the 1 month and 3 1 day of the new calendar were called the first month.

The first month of the lunar calendar is called the "old first month", and now most parts of Japan do not celebrate the old first month (except Ryukyu Islands and some rural areas).

Chinese name

Japanese new year

belong to

Japanese and Yamato Spring Festival all over the world

meaning

The most important festival of Yamato nationality in a year.

Is also called

The first month of the lunar year

I. Overview

Japanese New Year (Japanese: しょぅがつ) refers to the Gregorian calendar 65438+ 10/to 65438+1 0/3, which is equivalent to the Spring Festival in other parts of East Asia and is the most important day of the year. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan used the lunar calendar modified by the summer calendar to calculate the year, but after Japan changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1873, most places did not celebrate the old first month (except the Amami Islands in Okinawa Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture). Ordinary enterprises generally rest during the New Year.

Annual congratulatory letter

The New Year greeting card is our New Year greeting card in China. It used to be used to extend holiday greetings to distant relatives and friends (relatives and friends who can't meet in the first month), but later there is no such boundary. Every family in Japan sends hundreds of New Year greetings every year. With the popularization of computers, printers have gradually replaced writing brushes. But in order to show politeness, polite Japanese should personally add a word to express good luck, encouragement, or report the recent situation even on the printed New Year greetings. Like China, the annual greeting cards also carry lottery numbers.

Lucky money (jade)

On this festival, people will give their children and relatives' children some pocket money, which is called Yu Nian in Japanese (equivalent to China's lucky money). This is the busiest season for toy stores, because they want to attract children to spend their jade.

The Japanese used to spend two New Years, that is, New Year's Day and Spring Festival, which is similar to the situation in our country now. Only in modern times did it change to a new calendar year. On New Year's Eve, the Japanese call it "New Year's Eve". On New Year's Eve, the Japanese also have the custom of celebrating the New Year. People eat buckwheat noodles and watch TV programs arranged for the New Year. The solo competition between male and female singers is the most popular. At midnight, the temple is filled with cigarettes and the bell rings, often knocking 108. It is said that this is because there is a saying in the Buddhist scriptures that "hearing the bell is troublesome." The Japanese believe that every time you knock on the door, you will get rid of one kind of trouble, and knocking 108 times means clearing all troubles. After the bell rings, people flock to shrines and temples, burn incense and worship Buddha, and sign fortune-telling, which is called "the first visit". It is estimated that every year from midnight to New Year's Day,

About 80 million people took part in the visit. On the morning of New Year's Day, the whole family arranged to drink Tu Su wine in turn from young to old, and taste herring roe, black beans and dried fish cooked with slightly sweet soy sauce. It is said that these auspicious foods will bring prosperity and health to future generations.

The Japanese call the first day of New Year's Day "Zhengri", and the day 1 month 1 to 3 is called "Sanhe Day". On Sunday, the younger generation will go to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings, and then go to relatives and friends' home to pay New Year's greetings. I am used to eating rice cake soup, which the Japanese call "miscellaneous cooking".

During the Spring Festival, a straw rope or a circle made of straw rope is often pulled up above the door of every household, which is called "banknote-linked rope" or "banknote-linked decoration". Some also put some pine and bamboo, which is called "door pine". Many companies set up memorial archways with pine, bamboo and plums, which are novel in design and unique in style to celebrate. People also put paper-cuts of animals symbolizing longevity inside and outside the house, such as cranes and turtles, to pray for peace. At the same time, according to the zodiac, carve a new year and give gifts to each other.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications also issued a large number of "New Year stamps" with pictures of the New Year. Whether individuals or groups, exchanging New Year cards has become the most popular way to congratulate each other. The Japanese call it a "flying kite", which means deep affection in the distance. Whoever receives more new year cards in the new year will feel that the new year has a bright future, prosperous wealth and special joy. In the new year, the habit of visiting New Year among neighbors, relatives, friends and children is still prevalent. The first sentence when we meet is "Happy New Year".

"Red and White Songs" —— Japan's "Spring Festival Evening"

A dark day

ぉぉみそかかかかみそかかかかかかかみかかかかか.

The dark day is the last day of 2008. Usually, on this day, everyone will finish all the preparations for the New Year before noon. In the evening, the family will get together and start celebrating the New Year around the stove. The food on dark days is soba noodles, which is called "Yuenian soba noodles" in Japan, just like jiaozi in China. But there is an old saying that I have heard. In other words, a daughter is like a Christmas cake. She must get married before the age of 25, and a boy is a buckwheat stork on New Year's Eve. It doesn't matter if she doesn't get married after 30.

Second, the Chinese New Year custom

It is a great event for the Japanese to welcome the New Year. From the end of June+February, 5438, every household cleaned the inside and outside of the house, and some people hung a rope above the door, which is said to be used to drive away ghosts.

When the New Year comes, many Japanese will wear traditional kimonos to temples or shrines. The bell in the temple rings 108, indicating that everyone has the wish of 108 in the new year. Listening to the bell will also purify people's hearts.

The temple will give each visitor a white note. The words on the note will inspire you what will happen in the new year. People will hang these white notes on the trees next to the temple after reading them.

Children will receive "lucky money" from their elders during the New Year; On the other hand, adults began to send greeting cards to each other in June+February, 5438, and the post office promised to deliver all cards to people before New Year's Day.

Japan only celebrates the New Year, not the Spring Festival. It was not until June+10/October 15, 65438, that Japan was considered as the New Year. On the 5th, the shops opened, the stock market opened and the wholesale market was crowded, bringing a new atmosphere to the New Year. Everyone is thinking about last year.

In Yamaguchi Prefecture, the hometown of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on the 5th, the fresh fish auction market welcomed many buyers early in the morning, all of whom came to buy puffer fish. Eating puffer fish in the new year is auspicious in Japanese tradition, and everyone comes for it.

The puffer fish brings good luck.

The Japanese pronunciation of puffer fish is "fugu", which is similar to "fuku". In the new year, in order to pray for the happiness of the whole year, many Japanese will buy puffer fish after the arrival of the new year, and take them home after processing.

The puffer fish in Yamaguchi Prefecture is particularly famous in Japan. 1The 65438+ fishing boat that went fishing on the evening of October 4th, arrived at the fishing port on the morning of the 5th, and many people went to bid. Natural puffer fish 1 kg can be sold for about 22,000 yen (about 1700 RMB), which is expensive. The bidding process is a bit like selling cattle in the northwest countryside of China. Two people put their fingers through a sleeve-like cloth tube to mark the price. When the deal is reached, they will take the puffer fish under their control. If there is no deal, the seller will take the cloth tube to find someone else. Even if you don't buy fish, it's interesting to watch the auction alone, as if "Fu" is around.

The puffer fish is a very delicious dish after removing fish skin, liver and other internal organs. In ancient China, there was a saying that "eat puffer fish to death", and its delicious taste and fierce toxicity can be imagined from this sentence.

Japanese chefs who cook puffer fish need professional qualifications. Their practice is also very special. They cut the puffer fish meat thinner than paper and put it in a chrysanthemum-shaped plate. When you eat it with a little grapefruit-flavored soy sauce, the delicacy of puffer fish instantly becomes a kind of "happiness" in your mouth.

Black beans represent seriousness.

The Japanese call puffer fish "delicious", and not everyone can eat it in the New Year. And ordinary families will cook a very rich New Year's Eve dinner. There are not many hot foods in Japanese cuisine, and most of them can be eaten without heating. They put the New Year's Eve in a double-layer lacquer box, each layer is divided into two or four small boxes, which are filled with side dishes. The most indispensable thing in the New Year's Eve dinner is the black bean (kuromame), which is homophonic with "hard work and seriousness". There is also a small fish called Tasaku, which is homophonic for "more crops and good harvest", and it is also a dish that must appear in the New Year's Eve.

Hoping to be rich is the same in any country. Cooked and mashed with chestnuts or sweet potatoes, piled up into a hill, which is called "Jinshan" in Japanese. The entrance is sweet, meaning "Jinshan", which is naturally necessary for every meal.

Drinking is even more important. Lacquer plates for wine, three stacked together. Tu Su wines are also packed in lacquer cans. The host and guests took out small plates from top to bottom, and the host ordered some Tu Su wine on the plate. After the guests finished drinking, they ordered it again, drinking each dish three times, and finally completed the ceremony of "339 lights". After the newly used dishes are simply cleaned, the next guests will continue to use them, including children. Drinking Tu Su wine is also an important part of China New Year every year.

Huifangjuan

Japanese eat back to Fang Juan in the New Year. It turns out that this thick sushi roll is a special food for Japanese people to welcome spring, and it is called "Fang Huijuan", which is the direction of luck, that is, the direction of good luck. The Japanese have the custom of eating back to Fang Juan to welcome the spring.

Fang Hui Juan is thicker and bigger than the sushi you usually eat. It contains seven special foods. In order to make people eat well, the Japanese used the legend of China's seven financial gods to wrap seven kinds of food, such as dried zucchini, cucumber strips, mushrooms, eggs, eels and fish floss, in sushi and named it "Fang Huijuan". The Japanese believe that moving towards "Huifang"

Eat a thick "Huifangjuan" and make a wish, and you will get what you want, avoid disasters and attract blessings. No matter how long it takes to go back to Fang Juan, it can't be cut off, because cutting sushi is tantamount to cutting off happiness, which is a taboo.

There are many legends about the origin of Huifangjuan. According to records, during the Edo period, Osaka businessmen went back to Fang Juan to pray for a prosperous business, so it has been passed down to this day. There is also a saying that originated from the Pan Liegen Society in Japan. When the agency holds large-scale activities, it will distribute a kind of sushi to the former worshippers, which is called "Mengfu Roll Sushi". Eating it can ward off ghosts and evil spirits. If you don't cut off, you can't break the fate, but it also means curling up.

Nowadays, Japanese businessmen regard eating Huifangjuan as a means of promotion, and people are also happy to win a good lottery.

Listen to the bells and watch the concert.

Japanese people pay special attention to the New Year. Every year, 65438+February 29th-65438+1October 3rd is a national holiday in Japan. New Year is the biggest festival in Japan. The Japanese call 65438+February 3 1 "big black day", that is, New Year's Eve. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the bells of temples around the country rang 108, symbolizing 108' s exorcism of demons and troubles, while the Japanese sat quietly listening to the "Night Bell". When the bell stops, it means the arrival of a new year.

The "Red and White Song Club" is the "Spring Festival Evening" in Japan. Different from the Spring Festival Evening in China, the "Red and White Song Festival" started with 195 1, and it was a singing contest. The female player is the red team, the male team is the white team, and the singers of the two teams rotate.