"HINATA-BOKKO – Basking in the sun" by Tomoko Kajiura. Nihon-ga, Jan.1999 ©1997-1999 Tomoko Kajiura. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission tomo3.kajiura@mba.nifty.ne.jp.

The most symbolic of all is Je-sok or Je-ya (New Year's Eve), the last day of the twelfth month by the lunar calendar. As the word suggests, the evening hours, dark with the moon hidden, seem to contain some covert meaning.

During the day the adults wear newly ironed, snow white clothes and the children wear multi-colored garments. All rise early and the women begin cooking. The dishes are set on the table - fish to the east, meat to the west, fruits in the front, rice and soup behind, and drinks on the foremost table. Male family members line up in front of the tables in order of seniority, and the head of family conducts the ceremony of pouring wine in cups and laying chopsticks on the meat and vegetables, and placing spoons on the soup plates.

The whole family prostrates themselves, striking their heads three times against the floor. Afterwards the women go and eat in a separate room.

After the meal, visits are made to family and friends, with the host entertaining the adults with rice wine and rewarding children with candy and fruits. However, ladies do not make New Year calls, instead sending their maids to represent them.

At night people light torches in every corner of the house. This is called Su-se, meaning "defending the New Year." The torches are meant to keep away the devils away from man. A torch behind a pot on the cooking fireplace is for the god Jo-wang-shin. It is said that if you fall asleep on this particular day your eyebrows become gray. To prevent this, people tell stories and play games. In Seoul, citizens stay up until midnight to listen to the tolling of the bells which ring thirty-three times on New Year's Eve.

Sources:   Sources: Customs and Manners in Korea by Chun Shin-yong. Seoul, Korea: Si-sa-yong-o-sa, Inc., 1982, pp. 3-5, 37-38.

Okinawa
Shogatsu

As in Japan, the New Year is preceded by house cleaning, bathing and debt paying. A New Year's pig is killed, visits are made on New Year's Day and the celebration continues to two days. On the third day, "Hachibaru" (Begin Farming), some token work is performed.

In all villages, the custom of new or young water (wakamizu) is performed. Early in the morning of New Year, young children take fresh water in a teapot to the homes of relatives. The new water is poured into a cup, placed on the Buddhist god shelf, or on the shelf of the fire god in the kitchen. The children are given money by the relatives, who are then supposed to stay young themselves. The first tea of the New Year is made with the "young water."

The morning observances are family affairs. Tea and sake are placed in front of the ancestral tables on the god shelf. A fresh kimono is put on and the offering is made before breakfast. Then the father takes the sake from the god shelf, offering sips first to his wife and then to the children.

Later there are visits to the place of the patron deity or first ancestor of the village.

Source:   Studies of Okinawan Village Life by Clarence J. Glacken. Scientific Investigations in the Ryukyu Islands (SIRI) Report #4. Washington, D.C. Pacific Science Board. National Research Council, 1953, p. 322.

China

Housewives begin to prepare food dishes two to three days ahead of time. Dumplings are a must in northern China. When all is ready, decorations of red and yellow tasselled palace lanterns and streamers with couplets are hung on public buildings.

On New Year's Eve, everyone tries to stay home. Family members usually exchange small presents. Afterwards a feast follows. In many families a large fish is set on the table whole to symbolize the unity of the family.

The first day of the New Year is dedicated to feasting and visiting relatives. The second and third day friends and acquaintances visit and exchange good wishes.

Source:   Chinese Traditional Festivals by Marie-Luise Latsch. Beijing, China: New World Press, 1984, pp. 34-35.

Celebrations begin with "Seeing Off the Gods," on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month and continue through the Feast of Lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month. At the close of the year the household deities are required to go to heaven and report to the Jade Emperor on the activities of the mortal.

The sending off of the household spirits is the first in a series of sacrifices to ensure prosperity and peace for the coming year. Firecrackers, the burning of paper money, and a banquet are used to see them off. Often steamed rice pudding is given as a gift to relatives and friends, with a special exorcism performed before making the pudding, ensuring that nothing but blessings will be accrued from the making and eating of the pudding.

Custom demands that all pots, pans, furniture and the entire house are cleaned after the gods have departed. The spirits, when present, can cause sickness or loss of fortune if disturbed.

The fourth day of the New Year is called Ngia-sin, the "Welcome back the family spirits" feast. The usual three meats are laid on the family altar, incense and paper money are burned, and the house is more or less back to normal.

Source:   Taiwan Feasts and Customs by Michael R. Saso. Hsinchu, Taiwan: Chabanel Language Institute, pp. 5-8, 16-20.

During the Vietnamese New Year, Tet, the streets are crowded with people buying clothing, decorations, fireworks and special cakes of meat and beans, candied fruits and sweets, and certain kinds of flowers and plants.

On the afternoon before Tet, a special ceremony takes place at which a sacrifice is offered to the deceased relatives and they are invited to come back for a few days to share the festivities with the living members of the family.

At midnight of New Year's Eve, a ceremony called Giao Thua is held in which a sacrifice for the spirits and the ancestors is made on a lovely candle-list altar in the open air near the home. Firecrackers are set off to herald the new year. After this, the family may break off some new buds from the special new plants and trees recently purchased for Tet and go to the pagoda to place incense before the altar and pray for prosperity for the new year. After leaving the pagoda, another new bud is picked from a plant or tree and placed on the top of a column at their home on returning. This symbolizes good luck.

The first day is said to set the tone of the entire year so must be the very best day possible. Everyone tries to be cheerful, polite, optimistic, being careful not to break anything or become annoyed or angry. All are well dressed and houses are beautifully decorated as people spend the day visiting each other.

The feeling of celebration lasts for several days or a week. The ancestors are believed to depart on the fourth day so most people go back to work then. On the seventh day of Tet, the Cay Neu, a high bamboo pole set up on the last day of the old lunar year, is removed from the front of the home. The Vietnamese believe that the good spirits of the household must report to heaven during Tet, so they take many precautionary measures to scare off the bad spirits who know the good ones are away. Legend says the Cay Neu cannot stop a certain bad spirit so lime powder is scattered around the house and a bow and arrow are drawn in front of the threshold with the lime.

Sources:   Celebrations: Asia and the Pacific by Gene Sawyer. Honolulu: Friends of the East-West Center, 1978, p. 12. Customs and Culture of Vietnam by Ann Caddell Crawford. Rutland, VT.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1966, pp. 191-192.

Bhutan

The New Year is the biggest celebration of the year. Dances are performed by specially trained monks with dancers wearing masks and beautiful robes, while carrying decorated drums.

Source:   Enchantment of the World: Bhutan by Leila Merrell Foster. Chicago: Children's Press, 1989, p. 90.

Ladakh

To transition smoothly to the new year, the Ladakhis perform an elaborate ritual, covering five days. It begins on the second last day of the Tibetan year. According to their faith, they believe that an account of each man's good and evil deeds is kept in the shape of white and black pebbles, respectively, and that on the Day of Judgement the two lots are weighted against each other, to decide his fate. So the devotees worship Jigeje (one with six arms), a responsible deity of the pantheon, repent for the sins that they have committed during the year, and pray for the remission as to secure a favorable balance, promising good behavior for the coming year.

Over the year the evil forces may have entered the temple so they are driven away by a ritual of masked dances, along with the blowing of long horns and the clashing of cymbals.

The last day of the year is dedicated to white-washing the house, repainting lucky signs on it, decorating the rooms and preparing the ritual and festive foods for New Year's Day. As the New Year dawns, people rush to the source of water - a river, lake, stream, pond or spring - and take a drink of water. This ritual at the crack of dawn is believed to ensure that the year will pass smoothly without obstacles. Soon after returning home, hot chhang (a native beer usually consumed cold) is drunk. On this day the monks celebrate and a mendicant beggar goes door to door, singing and dancing, while making lucky, favorable utterances to the inhabitants of the dwelling. For the happy tidings, he is given snacks and money in return.

Celebrations carry over to the next day. Lamas are called home to conduct worship in the temple. The prayer flags are changed for the new year on the second or third day, with the calendars and charts helping the lama select the best time. The day passes in song and dance, meeting one another, and watching operas.

Source:   Festive India by Gurmeet Thukral, New Delhi: Frank Brothers, 1987, p. 6-7.

Stalls are set up at temples all over the country selling good luck daruma dolls. The daruma dolls have no eyes painted in. The custom is to paint in one eye and make a wish. If it comes true, then the other eye is painted in.

Source:   Japan Handbook by J.D. Bisignanai. Chico, CA: Moon Publications, 1983, p. 72.

Artwork Source:   "HINATA-BOKKO – Basking in the sun" by Tomoko Kajiura. To view additional paintings by Tomoko Kajiura or her brother, Akira Kajiura, please click on the banner below to view their gallery.