Welcoming the Boar - a Japanese New Year

Asia » Japan » Kagawa » Takamatsu
January 7th 2007

Published: January 9th 2007

In the Japanese zodiac 2007 is the Year of the Boar (Inoshishi). I spent the New Year with a couple of different friends that I had met the first time I was in Japan, and their families. It had been three years since I had seen one friend and his wife, and five years since I had seen the other friend and her family, but in both cases it was as though it had only been about a month. ... Read Full Entry

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Jo McCarthy

Jo Trouble

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene "I don't think we conquered Everest, I think the mountain relented." "It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." "...even the mediocre can have adventures and even the fearful can achieve." - Sir Edmund Hillary "The only trips I regret are the ones I never took" - Paddy Pallin 「山に対して優勝することじゃなくて、自分自身のことに対して優勝することだ。」 ... full info

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Celebrating with friends

New Year's Day

Hatsu mode - Mt Yashima

Hatsu mode (first visit of the year to a shrine or temple) Hatsu mode is the made early in the New Year to express a wish for the health and safety of family members during the coming year. Traditionally people would go on New's Eve to hear the bells ringing at midnight, though most people now go during the first three days of the New Year.

Hatsu mode - Mt Yashima

Smoke given off by burning insence sticks is waved over the body for good luck.

Hatsu mode - Mt Yashima

Candles with specific wishes are burned in the hope they will be carried out over the coming year; eg good health, traffic safety, academic success....

Mt Yashima

A shop selling ceramic tanuki (racoon dogs).

Mt Yashima

Mt Yashima - Kadomatsu

Kadomatsu are pine and bamboo decorations placed at the front door of houses, and entrances to shops and office buildings during the New Year celebrations.

Hatsu mode - Mt Yashima

Sanuki Udon

Udon are thick noodles made from wheat-flour. Sanuki udon is a traditional product of Kagawa, which was known in ancient times as Sanuki. There are over 200 udon shops in Takamatsu City, and the udon consumption in Kagawa is more than seven times the national average.

Sanuki Udon

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Welcoming the Boar - a Japanese New Year

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