Happy New Year: Looking Back & Japanese Customs
This year was the most amazing year in many ways than one.
In the beginning of the year, I was employed! My first job out of college, oh boy!! I also went to my first CES 2009, which was a wonderful experience.
This was also the year I started using my Twitter account more, and met the wonderful people at pixiv!
This year I also joined many projects I have never ever thought of joining before! I will be releasing doujin work in 2010!!
This year was my first Artist Alley at Fanime!!
This year was also the year I was able to finally visit Japan, after so many years of wanting to go.
This year, I had TWO BIRTHDAYS and I will have TWO NEW YEARS!
This year was definitely the most different year I've had in... ever. I wrote about this before... but...
At the beginning of the Chinese New Year, 2009, my mother gave me a jade rat necklace. She told me, "This year, it's the year of the Ox. Since you're an ox, to have too much ox means we are too greedy. So, wear this rat, and it will bring you good luck." Why a rat? She told me that in the legend that defines the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, the rat helped the ox by hopping on its back and becoming its eyes.
Ever since then, I've worn this jade necklace. As I type this, I am wearing it. I won't remove it until the next Chinese New Year... as lucky as the rat would be for an ox, I think it has helped especially this year since it's the year of the Ox. Sure, it may be a superstitious thing, but my mother believes in a lot of strange and wonderful things that I think helped her become the successful person I see her as today...
Anyway, I feel quite fortunate that I was able to meet everyone that I have this year. I have met more people online in person this year than any other year!
Now, after having an entire year full of meeting these pixiv users, I have learned a lot of things about the culture of Japan, even things about the New Year! I don't think I will write about everything I have learned, but here are some things Japanese do to welcome the New Year.
I had discovered that they no longer use the lunar calendar, so they don't celebrate the Lunar New Year like a lot of Asia does.
There's a giant cleaning that nearly everyone in Japan does to get ready for the new year. Pretty much most of their houses are cleaned top to bottom! In many ways, the coming of a new year seems like a "reset"...
There is mochi that people use to decorate their homes. The kagami mochi is like two pieces of mochi placed on top of each other, on top of a stand, usually decorated with a lot of things! I'm afraid I'm not very good at explaining this, so here is a link to Wikipedia. The mochi usually has a bitter orange on top, which is also called "daidai"... "daidai" is also the pronunciation for a word that means "from generation to generation." I am sure you can guess how that can be lucky! I think they eat it when the new year comes...
They all work on new year cards! It's not just any of your new year cards, I guess...? It seems to be a really strong customary thing to do. I mean, we send cards here too, like new years and christmas cards, but they seem to make it a point that it's VERY important to send these. They sort of show an appreciation perhaps? Some of the pixiv artists told me that chidren also receive things on the new year day, an envelopes with money in them. It reminded me of Chinese New Year, where we get red envelopes! I saw a few photos of them and they are usually very varied and cute in design.
When the new year comes, eating soba is lucky! Soba noodles are really long, so that must mean a long life.
During the new year, you have lots of "first" things! Like they said if I dreamed of Mt. Fuji, a hawk, or an eggplant within the first three days, I am bound to have a lucky year! I asked why those things, but even they are not sure. It's like the first three days or so pretty much defines if your year is going to be lucky or not. That's interesting.
You have a first dream, a first temple visit, a first sun... this and that. It's hard to explain in full, but if you are still interested in learning about these first things, here it is on wiki. Of course, even more information is online, so just search it up on Google if you really want to know more! I'm definitely no expert.
Oh yeah, one of my friends told me that there are things that should "medetai" or lucky. It's better to have lucky things in the first few days and try not to be negative as to make your year as lucky as possible.
There's probably more things I learned but haven't mentioned, but wow! That's a lot of things for something I thought was just a day to mark the beginning of a new year. I'm sure families across the world do have their own traditions, but it was interesting to me to learn even this much about my friends across the sea. My mind is still asking "What, nearly the entire country does this!? AT THE SAME TIME!? Wait, ALL of these things!?"
Some of them sent me New Year cards... this icon I am using now was drawn on one of them. He's not really an artist, so the result was rather cute. I really like it, okay... hehe.
With those things said, I hope that everyone here at LiveJournal (and those who are reading this) will have a wonderful New Year! I love you all!! Let's go, 2010!!! See you there!!