Word List: New Year Celebrations in Japan

Christmas is over and it's the end of the year, which means Japan is gearing up for its biggest holiday of the season: the New Year holidays.

The Japanese New Year holiday or oshōgatsu is celebrated from the end of December through the first week of January. The season is steeped in traditions from Chinese culture and the Shinto belief system. 

While Christmas in Japan is more of a casual holiday marketed towards couples, most people choose to celebrate the New Year at home with their extended family. Preparations are made before the end of the year, and the family spends New Years' Eve and the first few days of the New Year together at home, usually eating good food and watching special TV programs or doing other fun activities together.

Traditionally, the New Year season was seen as a time to garner favor from the harvest gods for a bountiful harvest and prosperity in the new year. Many people see it as a way to welcome one's ancestors back to their homes and receive a blessing from them for the new year.

In this post, I've rounded up all the words and phrases I could think of that you might encounter during the New Year season in Japan.

First, let's look at some basic words to describe the holiday.

First things first

お正月 おしょうがつ oshōgatsu    the New Year holiday

大晦日 おおみそか ōmisoka    New Year's Eve

新年 しんねん shinnen    the new year

新春 しんしゅん shinshun    the new year (another way to say it, literally translates to “new spring”)

年末 ねんまつ nenmatsu    the end of the year season

年末年始 ねんまつねんし nenmatsu nenshi    the end of the year and New Year season

1月1日 いちがつついたち ichigatsu tsuitachi    January 1st

元旦 がんたん gantan    the first day of the year (has the nuance of the sunrise and early morning of the first day)

元日 がんじつ ganjitsu    the first day of the year (another way to say it, referring to the whole day)

良いお年を！ よいおとしを yoi otoshi o    "Have a good New Year holiday!" (said before the New Year holiday to people you won't see until next year)

あけましておめでとうございます akemashite omedetō gozaimasu    "Happy New Year!" (said after the new year comes, the first time you meet someone in the new year)

新年あけましておめでとうございます shinnen akemashite omedetō gozaimasu    a longer way of saying "Happy New Year!" (see above)

今年もよろしくお願いします。ことしもよろしくおねがいします kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu    (Hard to translate, but you can say this after Happy New Year! to show that you want to continue your friendship, romantic or business relationship with someone into the new year.)

Next, learn some events and activities that are done in preparation for or celebration of the new year.

Things to do for the New Year

大掃除 おおそうじ ōsōji    spring cleaning

おせち料理 おせちりょうり osechi ryōri    a traditional New Years meal called "osechi" filled with different delicacies, usually eaten cold or at room temperature. It's like a very fancy bento box. You can order pre-made stacked lacquered boxes filled with osechi from grocery stores, hotels, and other osechi providers.

A spread of osechi.

初詣 はつもうで hatsumōde    the first visit to a shrine in the New Year. Many people line up at famous shrines early on January 1st to pray and get good luck for the new year

People line up for the first shrine visit of the year. Credit: 松岡明芳, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

年賀状 ねんがじょう nengajō    New Years' greeting cards, much like Christmas cards in the US, sent to friends and family on January 1st (this is more popular with the older generation)

Some typical nengajo from the Year of the Snake. Credit: Halowand, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

喪中ハガキ もちゅうはがき mochū hagaki    A postcard sent out to notify friends that there's been a death in the family during the year. In Japan, it's considered impolite to send a New Years' greeting card to families who've experienced death that year. Families will send a mochū hagaki to their contacts to let them know it's not appropriate to send them a greeting card that year.

忘年会 ぼうねんかい bōnenkai    end-of-year party. This word literally means a "forget the year" party. Some bōnenkai feature a lot of drinking, so the participants do forget the year, at least for the duration of the party. These are common for companies and groups of friends who want to celebrate the end of the year together.

新年会 しんねんかい shinnenkai    a New Year party. This is like a bōnenkai, but it's held after the new year has come.

餅つき もちつき mochi-tsuki    mochi-pounding. This is a traditional New Years activity where participants pound rice in a bucket until it gets super strong and sticky and forms a giant rice cake (mochi).

餅つき大会 もちつきたいかい mochi-tsuki taikai    a mochi-pounding event. Local schools and other organizations will often hold a mochi-pounding event for the whole community to attend. It's a lot of effort to do this yourself, so it's easier to attend a larger event (and everyone gets to eat mochi at the end)!

Children participate in a mochi-pounding event. Credit: 宗教法人英彦山神宮, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

お正月飾り おしょうがつかざり oshōgatsu kazari    New Years' decorations. There are a bunch of traditional decorations said to increase luck or welcome ancestors into one's home for the New Year. Below are some examples of traditional decorations. (And if you live in Japan, you can usually pick these up at your local grocery store beginning in November or December.)

迎春 げいしゅん geishun    New Year’s greetings. This phrase is often written on New Year decorations and hung on the front door.

鏡餅 かがみもち kagami mochi    kagami mochi, or "mirror" mochi. This traditional decoration features two rice cakes placed on top of each other with other decorations like a Mandarin orange (mikan) and a sheet of seaweed (konbu), that have many meanings but generally is thought to increase good fortune for the new year.

A display of kagami mochi in someone's home. (The mochi is stacked inside the plastic container.)

門松 かどまつ kadomatsu    kadomatsu, or "gate pines" are little pine-tree decorations that are said to welcome the gods of the harvest for the new year or your ancestors into your home (who are said to bless you for the new year). These kami in the Shinto tradition are said to live in the kadomatsu as long as they are placed in the entrance of a building, usually until January 7.

Some kadomatsu in front of a shop. Credit: Nesnad, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

しめ縄 しめなわ shimenawa    shimenawa, or "enclosing ropes" are ropes of hemp or rice straw traditionally used for purification rituals in the Shinto tradition. These are traditionally decorated around the house during the New Year holidays in order to drive evil away from the home.

A display of shimenawa on someone's door. Credit: Nesnad, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

年を越す としをこす toshi o kosu    to ring in the new year, or literally "cross over into the new year." This is the name for staying up late on New Year's Eve and waiting for the new year to come.

年越し蕎麦 としこしそば toshi koshi soba    a traditional meal of soba noodles eaten on New Year's Eve, said to give the person who eats it a long life.

お歳暮 おせいぼ oseibo    a traditional gift sent around the end of the year to thank someone for their kindness during the year. This is more popular with the older generation of Japan and businesses.

実家 じっか jikka    your parents' home, the home you grew up in. Since the New Year is mainly a family holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the US, many people choose to go back home (to their jikka) for the holiday.

実家に帰る じっかにかえる jikka ni kaeru    to go back to your parents' home

お年玉 おとしだま otoshidama    a gift of money given to children for the New Year from parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. The amount of money a child gets usually depends on the age of the child.

Some typical otoshidama envelopes.

こたつ kotatsu    a special table covered with a blanket that has a heater inside to keep your legs warm. Many homes have a kotatsu and families will often eat meals and spend most of the New Year holiday tucked under it.

A kotatsu table with green tea and oranges, perfect for the cold weather.

紅白歌合戦 こうはくうたがっせん kōhaku uta gassen    a singing competition held on New Years' Eve. Famous musical artists are divided into two teams, red and white, and try to win the most votes by giving the best performance. You can watch it on NHK.

箱根駅伝 はこねえきでん hakone ekiden    the Hakone Ekiden, a multi-day relay race for university students, held every year on January 2 and 3. You can watch it on Nippon TV. 

新年一般参賀 しんねんいっぱんさんが shinnen ippan sanga    a special event held every year on January 2 where the Imperial Palace grounds are freely open to the public and the emperor gives a New Years greeting to the people. (The 2021 in-person greeting has been cancelled because of COVID concerns, and the emperor will greet the people by video instead.)

福袋 ふくぶくろ fukubukuro    "lucky bag" Much like Black Friday deals in the US, Japanese stores will sell "lucky bags" during the first few days of the New Year. These are usually opaque bags or boxes sold at a set price that are stuffed with the store's merchandise, some to get rid of old styles before the next season, and some popular items. The price of the bag is usually much lower than the total price of the items inside, and it's fun to buy them from your favorite brands and see what you get.

A display of fukubukuro (probably with snacks inside) sold for 5000 yen.

Zodiac years in Japanese

In Japan, years are named after the 12 Zodiac animals, and they repeat every 12 years. For example, 2020 was the year of the rat, and 2021 is the year of the ox (or cow).

干支 えと eto    the Chinese Zodiac 12-year system of animals

Here's the full list of Zodiac years:

丑年 うしどし ushidoshi    Year of the Ox    (2021)

寅年 とらどし toradoshi    Year of the Tiger    (2022)

卯年 うさぎどし usagidoshi    Year of the Rabbit    (2023)

辰年  たつどし tatsudoshi    Year of the Dragon    (2024)

巳年 へびどし hebidoshi    Year of the Snake    (2025)

午年 うまどし umadoshi    Year of the Horse    (2026)

未年 ひつじどし hitsujidoshi    Year of the Goat    (2027)

申年 さるどし sarudoshi    Year of the Monkey    (2028)

酉年 とりどし toridoshi    Year of the Rooster    (2029)

戌年 いぬどし inudoshi    Year of the Dog    (2030)

亥年 いのししどし inoshishi-doshi    Year of the Pig    (2031)

子年 ねずみどし nezumidoshi    Year of the Rat    (2032)

You can figure out which animal year you were born in by counting back from this year. The animals always repeat in this same order.

Plus, there's a special name for people during the year that matches their animal.

年女 としおんな toshi-onna    a woman during the year of her Zodiac animal

年男 としおとこ toshi-otoko    a man during the year of his Zodiac animal

Practice these words

I'm going to assume that if you're able to understand the grammar of these phrases, you can also read hiragana. So I haven't added an English transcription to these.

今日は大掃除します。 きょうはおおそうじします。 I'm going to do Spring Cleaning today.

新年まであと８時間です。 しんねんまであとはちじかんです。 Eight more hours until the new year.

今年は丑年ですね。 ことしはうしどしですね。 This is the Year of the Ox.

年末はどこで過ごしますか。 ねんまつはどこですごしますか。 Where will you be for the end of the year?

今年のお正月は実家に帰ります。 ことしのおしょうがつはじっかにかえります。 I'll go back home (to my parents) for the New Year this year.

今年はコロナで実家に帰れません。 ことしはころなでじっかにかえれません。 I can't go back to my parents' home this year because of COVID.

今年は友達と年越しします。 ことしはともだちととしこしします。 This year, I'm going to ring in the new year with friends.

おせち料理を食べます。 おせちりょうりをたべます。 I'm going to eat osechi.

箱根駅伝を見ます。 はこねえきでんをみます。 I'm going to watch the Hakone Ekiden.

こたつはすごく暖かい。 こたつはすごくあったかい。 The kotatsu is so warm.

今年はもう初詣しましたか？  ことしはもうはつもうでしましたか？  Have you done hatsu mōde yet this year?

年賀状届きましたか？ ねんがじょうとどきましたか？ Did you get my nengajō?

今年は年女だ。ことしはとしおんなだ。 It's my Zodiac year this year.

Hope you have a warm, safe, and wonderful New Year celebration this year!