It’s now midnight on New Years Day 2015.
Happy New Year!
In Japan, New Years is the biggest holiday. There are many traditions, customs, decoration and a special meal with family.
2014 was the “Year of the Horse”…but it’s now the beginning of 2015 “the Year of the Sheep“.
2014 “Year of the Horse” passing the baton to 2015 “Year of the Sheep”
明けましておめでとうございます！ (“Happy New Year!“)
How did you celebrate the New Year?
(The above image is from プロ年賀状 (“Pro New Years Postcards”) website.)
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Tokyo Five 
Same family. They put the nengajo in our mailbox the day after we gave them the otoshidama. Two girls, 6 and 3. And the other neighbor, a boy who’s not quite 2. All adorable! The mothers were both pretty surprised. We don’t speak much Japanese, so our conversations are mostly “hello” in passing.
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Maybe they will begin to try to talk with you more from now…
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あけまして おめでとう! We literally rang in the new year with our neighbors at a temple in Kawagoe. I’ve really enjoyed the celebrations, festivals and traditions. We even received a nengajo from our downstairs neighbor in which she translated all the kanji names to katakana. cascadianabroad.com/2015/01/01/japanese-new-year-traditions.
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>あけまして おめでとう!
Thank you. “Happy New Year” to you too.
>I’ve really enjoyed the celebrations, festivals and traditions.
Yeah…New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday. There are many customs, special food and decorations.
>We even received a nengajo from our downstairs neighbor
Did you send one back to her?
I read your post. Very nice! You could experience a lot of Japanese New Years customs!
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We might send nengajo to the neighbors next year. We bucked tradition and gave the neighbor kids otoshidama, so the nengajo was in response to that. The kids are a lot less scared of us now too! 🙂
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>We might send nengajo to the neighbors next year.
I’d recommend waiting to see if they send you one again…and, if so, send them one back.
It’s possible that it will become an obligation for years to come. I have been sending / receiving New Years postcards to / from many people for decades…but they’re all my friends and relatives, so I don’t mind at all.
>We bucked tradition and gave the neighbor kids otoshidama, so the nengajo was in response to that.
Oh, was it the same family? Those kids must have been happy! How old are they? (If you still live near them next January, they may come to expect the money from you! 😉 )
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Happy 2015! I shall blog about our bringing in the new year soon.
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I look forward to reading it.
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Happy New Year 2015 to you and family.
Our celebration this year was just peaceful as we walked along the river watching other people celebrating and doing their own thing ..then watching the firework display from the comforts of our bedroom – me, my husband and sleeping daughter 🙂
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Not many fireworks at New Years in Japan. They’re more popular in summer here.
Like most people in Japan, we enjoy traditional New Year food with extended family every January 1st.
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