Japan to greet New Year with prayers, shopping and 'Kohaku' ‹ Japan Today
TOKYO —
Millions of people will visit temples and shrines in Japan on Saturday night and Sunday morning, return to their home towns to be with their families and watch the New Year variety show “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red and White Song Contest) on NHK as part of the annual New Year celebration.
Shrines are expected to be crowded on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, in particular, welcomes a huge wave of worshippers each year on Dec 31 and Jan 1. The gigantic shrine expects three million visitors in the first three days of the new year. Smaller neighborhood shrines throughout the country also receive a steady stream of visitors.
For those staying at home on New Year’s Eve, NHK’s popular variety program “Kohaku Uta Gassen” will air from 7:15 p.m. Though it has lost some of its luster in the past 10-15 years, “Kohaku” is still considered the most prestigious TV music program to be invited to appear on. Up to 35% of Japan’s TV audience is expected to watch the four-hour program, which features established 51 acts and J-pop stars. This year, the program will not feature SMAP, one of Japan’s longest-lived pop groups, who announced in late August that they would disband in December. Although NHK tried desperately to get them to bow out on “Kohaku,” the group opted instead to make their farewell on the Dec 26 final episode of their long-running variety program, “SMAP X SMAP.”
Although parties and countdown events aren’t as popular in Japan as in Western countries (think of New Year’s Eve in Japan as akin to Christmas Eve in the West), there are big events planned at some of the 5-star hotels, clubs, pubs and restaurants in the major cities.
In Tokyo’s Shibuya district, traffic will be prohibited from entering the famous scramble crossing from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. so that the thousands of revelers can gather in relative safety. For the past three years, police restricted pedestrian access to the intersection but the crowds have been increasing each year, causing massive traffic jams and pedestrian congestion.
If you’re out and about, you’ll hear lots of bells. At midnight, temple bells will strike 108 times—a ritual known as “Joya no Kane.” According to Buddhist beliefs, the number 108 corresponds to the number of evil desires that we suffer from. It is believed that by listening to or ringing the bell 108 times, you can get rid yourself of those evil desires.
Getting home won’t be a problem in Tokyo. Subways and trains in the nation’s capital run throughout the night—the only night each year they do so.
Meanwhile, markets and malls across the nation were packed with shoppers on Saturday, looking for last-minute bargains. If you missed out, don’t worry. Many department stores and other retailers will open on New Year’s Day, offering huge discounts, to take advantage of families and their children who wish to spend their “otoshidama” (monetary gifts from parents and grandparents). Shibuya’s famous 109 store is a magnet for young women, many of whom line up hours before the stores in the building open. They can often be seen outside the store afterwards, offering to swap the contents of their “fukubukuro” (lucky sealed bags containing items generally worth double the value of the purchase price).
If you’re in Tokyo on Jan 2, the imperial palace will be open to the public. The emperor, empress and other members of the imperial family will greet well-wishers from the balcony three times during the day. Tens of thousands of people usually attend these greetings each year.
Many other cultural events continue at least until Jan 6 in most prefectures. One of the most elaborate is the annual New Year’s Fire Review, called “Dezomeshiki,” which will take place at Tokyo Big Sight on Friday Jan 6 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. This event is a spectacular demonstration of fire and disaster prevention performed by the Metropolitan Fire Department. It features firefighting drills, rescue, first aid, a parade of firefighting equipment and other various performances.
Performers demonstrate acrobatic stunts on top of bamboo ladders, while about 2,700 professional firefighters and members of community-based fire companies in Tokyo and more than 130 fire vehicles, helicopters and ships will be mobilized.
See related story on traditional New Year customs here .
Japan Today
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Japan has approached China and South Korea about holding a trilateral summit in Tokyo in February aimed at deepening cooperation on such issues as a free trade deal, the environment and counter-terrorism, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday. Disagreements over North Korea and historical issues have long dogged relations between the three Asian powers, though they have held several such trilateral meetings since 2008, most recently in Seoul in 2015. South Korea is enthusiastic about participating in the proposed Tokyo summit while China has yet to clarify its position, Kyodo said, citing unnamed diplomatic sources. China is unlikely to announce its decision before US President-elect Donald Trump’s policy on Asia becomes more clear, Kyodo said. If the summit does go ahead, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, in lieu of recently-impeached President Park Geun-hye, are expected to meet around February 10, Kyodo added. Japan and South Korea said earlier this month they would impose new unilateral sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, but China has expressed its opposition to such measures. Beijing also opposes a decision by South Korea and the United States to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter missile threats from North Korea. China and South Korea have both been angered by the Japanese defence minister’s decision on Thursday to visit a controversial shrine to Japan’s war dead. Beijing and Seoul see the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo as a symbol of Japan’s militarism and a reminder of its wartime atrocities. Japan had originally intended to host the trilateral summit this year, but it postponed the plan due to political uncertainty in South Korea. Tokyo proposed the meeting to Seoul in mid-December following Park’s impeachment, Kyodo said.
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