Here are the winning numbers for the 2013 New Years Postcard Lottery:
957503 – Prize: Computer, digital camera and printer – or – Digital TV
111316, 294651, or 346247 – Prize: Digital camera and digital picture frame – or – Humidifier – or – Bicycle
xx5635 – Prize: Regional food items
xxxx29, or xxxx70 – Prize: Postage stamps
Did you win anything?
In Tokyo, there is a subway station named 「辰巳駅」(“Tatsumi Station”).
The Japanese kanji characters that spell “Tatsumi” are the characters for “dragon” and “snake”.
So, for that reason, every twelve years … including this year … that station is a kind of unofficial New Years station.
This is because 2012 was 「辰年」(“the Year of the Dragon “) and this year (2013) is 「巳年」(“the Year of the Snake “).
So, for this New Years, Tatsumi Station changed the signs in the station to read:
辰 → 巳
(Dragon → Snake)
It’s great!
It’s now 2013 January 1st in Japan.
明けましておめでとう！(Happy New Year!) ♪
On the Japanese calender, 2013 is 平和25年 (Heisei 25) … the “Year of the Snake” (巳年).
New Years is the biggest holiday in Japan.
It would take a lot to explain Japanese New Year in detail … New Years postcards, TV specials, relatives coming together for a special meal, temple visits, lucky charms and New Years decorations, and many other things.
I’ll just briefly introduce you to Daruma.
Daruma is a round doll that people buy at New Years in Japan.
He has a funny face … and no eyes!
If you get a Daruma, you’re supposed to make a wish for the new year and paint one of his eyes in.
If the wish comes true, you paint in the other eye.
Regardless of whether the wish comes true or not, at the end of the year, you’re supposed to bring the Daruma (and any other New Years decorations you have) to a temple to be burned … and then get a new one for the next year.
It’s bad luck to keep a Daruma for over one year.
It’s now 2012 January 1. 明けましておめでとうございます！ (“Happy New Year!”)
2012 is 「辰年」 (the “Year of the Dragon”) according to the Chinese zodiac which is popular in many Asian countries, including Japan.
If you want to know what year you were born in according to the Chinese zodiac, check on this chart.
The chart above translates the year “animals” into English…but they can be translated slightly differently too.
For example, ネズミ年 (Year of the Rat) can also be called “Year of the Mouse”.
I prefer to translate them as such:
+ 子年 : Year of the Mouse
+ 丑年 : Year of the Ox (or Cow)
+ 寅年 : Year of the Tiger
+ 兔年 : Year of the Rabbit
+ 辰年 : Year of the Dragon (this year)
+ 巳年 : Year of the Snake
+ 午年 : Year of the Horse
+ 未年 : Year of the Sheep (or Ram)
+ 申年 : Year of the Monkey
+ 酉年 : Year of the Rooster (or Chicken)
+ 戌年 : Year of the Dog
+ 亥年 : Year of the Wild Boar (or Pig)
As I mentioned before on this blog (including this post), Japanese people send friends and family 年賀状 (New Years postcards) every year and each of these postcards has a unique six digit serial number on the back lower-right-hand corner.
This number is for the annual お年玉 (Japan Postal New Years lottery drawing).
Every year in late January, the post office announces seven sets of winning numbers.
This year’s winning numbers were announced today.
They are:
– First Place (with a 1 in one-million chance of winning) postcards with the number 651694.
People who have a card with this number can choose a prize of either a digital TV,
a trip to Hawaii or any domestic (Japan) location,
a set of office supplies,
a laptop computer / digital camera / digital printer combo,
or a bicycle
– Second Place (with a 3 in one-million chance of winning) has winning numbers of either: 403580, 228949, or 022471.
These prizes are a choice of a wii Game set,
a digital camera and digital frame set,
a humidifier,
a domestic trip (with hotel, dinner, and lunch), or
a coffee maker.
– Third Place (1 in 10,000 chance) are cards with the last four digits of 8363.
The prize is a choice from a large variety of foods.
– Fourth Place (2 in 100 chance) are cards with the last two digits of either 69 or 02.
The prize is two Japanese postage stamps with pictures of a rabbit (2011 is “The Year of the Rabbit”).
Last year (2010), I had a post card with the winning number for a set of two stamps with pictures of a tiger (2010 was “the Year of the Tiger”)…and this year I have two postcards with winning numbers for stamps again.
Maybe one year we’ll win one of the big prizes.
あけましておめでとうございます！ (“Happy New Year!)
2011 is 「うさぎ年」 (“the Year of the Rabbit”).
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Foreign movies (usually “Hollywood” releases) usually premiere in Japan long after they’ve been shown in their home country (usually America).
This is because, I’ve heard, first the movie must be either subtitled or dubbed into the Japanese language…but sometimes the distributors wait to see how the movie does in it’s home country to help determine if it would be worth the cost to show it here.
Here are a few of the many Hollywood movies that are scheduled to be shown in theaters here in Japan in 2011:
- 「アンストッパブル」 (“Unstoppable”)
Stars Denzel Washington in a true story about a runaway train.
It was released in America in November 2010…and is scheduled it show in theaters in Tokyo on 2011 January 7th.
- 「ソーシャル・ネットワーク」 (“The Social Network”)
The story of how Mark Zuckerberg started the internet phenomenom called “Facebook“.
The U.S. release was in October 2010. It will show in Japan on 2011 January 15th.
- 「グリーン・ホーネット」 (“The Green Hornet”)
The story of a masked crimefighter called The Green Hornet and his partner Kato (who was played by Bruce Lee in the 1960′s TV series).
Bruce Lee as "Kato" in the 1960's U.S. TV series "The Green Hornet"
Sometimes American movies are released at the same time (or close to it) in both the U.S. and Japan.
“The Green Hornet” is one such movie. It is scheduled to be shown in the U.S. on 2011 January 14th and in Tokyo on 2011 January 22nd.
- 「トゥルー・グリット」 (“True Grit”)
Stars Jeff Bridges in the role made famous by John Wayne in the 1969 original movie adaptation of this story of a drunken U.S. Marshal in the 19th century “Wild West” who is hired by a fourteen year old girl to track the killer of her father.
The U.S. release of this film was in late December 2010 but won’t hit theaters in Tokyo until March 2011.
Have you seen any of these films? Do you recommend them?
I think “True Grit” looks the best. I’m looking forward to it.
New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday. The holiday has many traditions in Japan.
One of the traditions is sending 年賀状 (New Years postcards).
One the back of Japanese New Years postcards, in the lower right-hand corner, is a six-digit number.
Every year in late January, the Japan Post Office has a New Years Postcard Lottery.
Yesterday was this years drawing.
The winning numbers for the 2010 年賀状 (New Years Postcard) lottery:
★ First Place (TV, computer, travel, digital camera or an office set)
– 975424
★ Second Place (Wii, digital camera, DVD player, TV)
– 259668,
– 446722, or
– 630838
★ Third Place (brand name merchandise)
– any number with the last four digits as 0977
★ Fourth Place (postage stamps)
– any number with the last two digits as either 00 or 52
★ “C” Prize (JTB ¥5,000 gift certificate)
– any number with the last five digits as 27520
There is also a Summer postcard lottery in Japan.
And I wrote a post about the New Years Postcard Lottery last year.
Did you get 年賀状 (Japanese New Years postcards) this year?
Do any of you cards have a winning lottery number?
I have three winning cards…all for postage stamps.
明けましておめでとうございます！ (“Happy New Year!“)
It’s now 2010. The second decade of the 21st century!
2010 is the "Year Of The Tiger".
If you go to the Tokyo Tower by 2010 Jan 17 (8:00-10:00PM), you can see it lit up with "2010"
Every year on New Year’s Eve in Japan, many people watch 「紅白歌合戦」 (“Red And White Song Battle“) on TV.
It’s a music show with two teams of musicians (a “red” team and a “white” team…red and white are the colors or celebration) competing for points based on their live song performance.
Just before midnight, they countdown to the new year.
This show has been a New Year tradition in Japan for many years.
Last night we watched the show…as we usually do every year.
Here’s a clip of the show from yesterday.
And as I mentioned in an earlier post, Susan Boyle came to Japan to perform on this show last night. It was an excellent performance.
Here it is:
America also has a musical New Year countdown show that has been aired for many years. I used to watch it when I was a kid.
On this show, they show a illuminated ball descend a tower in New York City…the ball is timed to reach the bottom of the tower precisely at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
I haven’t seen this show since the mid-1980s…but I’m sure it’s still on the air every year.
As today is the start of a new decade, let’s look at Japan’s 「紅白歌合戦」 (“Red And White Song Battle“) from New Years Eve four decades ago (the year I was born)…
Here’s a clip from Japan’s 「紅白歌合戦」 (“Red And White Song Battle“) from New Year’s Eve 1969 → 1970:
I couldn’t find a clip from America’s “New Years Eve At Times Square” from the same time but here’s one from three decades ago (New Year’s Eve 1979 → 1980):
Time flies. TV and music (and life in general) is so different now!
How about ten years ago?
New Years Eve 1999 ushered in the year 2000 (the start of the 21st century). Remember the “Y2K scare” at that time?
Well here’s a clip that shows highlights of the New Years celebrations from that evening (1999 → 2000) from around the world:
In Japan, it’s almost midnight on 2009 December 31.
In about ten minutes the year 2010 will start in Japan.
Click here and you see the current time in Tokyo on my main website.
Last year, I wrote about 大晦日 (New Year’s Eve) in Japan and some of the customs in Japan…including 年越しそば (New Year noodles), which we ate today as we always do, and the 「紅白歌合戦」 (Red And White Music Battle) TV show that we’re watching now.
Click here to read my New Year’s Eve post from last year.
Since the year 2009 will be over in a matter of minutes (at least on this side of the world), how about a list of new words that entered the English language in 2009 and new words that entered the Japanese language this past year too?
New English-language words for 2009 (according to the Oxford Dictionary (since I don’t live in an English-speaking country, these were all new (and interesting) to me):
Intexticated – Distracting by sending text-messages via cell-phone while driving.
Paywall – Part of a website that is only available to paying subscribers.
Sexting – Sending explicit photos and/or text via cell-phone email.
Funemployed – Unemployed people taking advantage of their free-time to pursue interesting activities.
Choice Mom – A woman who chooses to be a single mother.
And the 2009 English-language “Word Of The Year”…Unfriend – To remove someone from your list of “Facebook friends”.
Are these words common in America (or other countries)?
And the new Japanese-language words in 2009:
「歴女」 (Rekijo) – (Eng. “History Women”) – Japanese women who are interested in Japanese history. It’s a new trend. They enjoy visiting historic spots in Japan such as graves of famous Samurai and other historic landmarks.
「ファスト・ファッション」 – (Eng. “Fast fashion”) – Due to the bad economy, cheap retail fashion stores such as “Uniqlo” and “Forever 21″ have seen an increase in business.
「派遣切り」 (Haken-giri) – (Eng. “Temp Staff Cutbacks”) – It used to be that temporary staff of large companies could almost count on becoming permanent staff one day, but the economy has caused many companies to lay-off their temporary workers.
「政権交代」 (Seiken-Koutai) – (Eng. “Regime Change”) – The Liberal Democratic Party has won every Prime Minister election for decades…but this year Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party Of Japan became the Prime Minister.
「新型インフルエンザ」 (Shingata-influenza) – (Eng. “New Flu”) – The Swine Flu is called New Flu in Japan.
McDonalds Japan will be offering four new versions of their “Quarter Pounder” burger starting next month.
Only one of the new burgers will be available at a time though.
All four of the new burgers are known as “Big America burgers. And individually they are: “Texas Burger“, “New York Burger“, “California Burger“, and “Hawaiian Burger“.
The first of the four that will be available is the “Texas Burger“. It will be available starting on 2010 January 15.
It has bacon and BBQ sauce.
Next will be the “New York Burger“. It will go on sale in early February 2010.
It’ll be like a BLT meets a Quarter Pounder“…bacon, lettuce and tomato on the burger.
Then in late February 2010, the “California Burger” will be the one available.
It’ll have Monterrey Jack cheese.
And finally, in March 2010, the “Hawaiian Burger” will be on the menu.
It’ll have a egg and is called a Hawaiian Loco-moco style burger.
On the McDonalds Japan website, visitors an click a button if they intend to try all four of the Big America burgers. When I checked the site, it said that “105,423 people will try all four burgers“.
To me, none of them sound all that special. I don’t think I’ll buy any of them.
How about you? Which of them sounds good to you? Would you try all four?
Are these burgers available at McDonalds in your country…or is it only in Japan?
+++
Anyways, the Xmas decorations went down yesterday in Japan and were replaced with the traditional Japanese New Years decorations.
New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.
Here’s a New Years window display at a store that my family and I went to today.
And while we were out, we passed a little league baseball game near the river:
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