Japan celebrates Oshōgatsu, its traditional New Year holiday, beginning on January 1.
Japanese New Year customs take place during a holiday period that commonly runs from January 1 through January 3. Families often clean their homes before the holiday, send New Year’s cards, display decorations and eat special foods such as osechi ryōri and ozōni soup. Many people visit a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple for hatsumōde, the first religious visit of the year.
At midnight, Buddhist temples may ring their bells 108 times in the joya no kane ritual. The number is traditionally connected with the 108 earthly desires in Buddhist thought. Children commonly receive otoshidama, money placed in decorated envelopes.
Japan once followed a lunisolar calendar, but it adopted the Gregorian calendar for official use in 1873. As a result, modern Japanese New Year is celebrated on January 1 rather than on the lunar date used for Lunar New Year in several other East Asian societies. The holiday’s customs, however, preserve older Japanese religious and seasonal traditions.