One of the traditions of the Oomisoka (大晦日: last day of the year) is to eat toshikoshi soba (年越し蕎麦: year-passing soba). It is believed that eating soba noodles, which are very long, is good to have a long life. Morevover eating toshikoshi soba brings good luck and good health for the year that is beginning.
Happy New Year 2014! Shinnen Akemashite Omedetou! 新年あけましておめでとう!
Other Japanese year-end and new year traditions:
Fundoshi (褌) is the most well-known Japanese traditional undergarment for men. With the arrival of Western underwear after World War II it felt out of use. Nowadays they are only used in traditional festivals (“matsuri”) and as traditional swimming suits.
Photo by Rocket news
The Japan Fundoshi Association has launched a Manga Fundoshi Kickstarter. The funding period ends at the end of this month so you still have some hours left to collaborate with the project and get your favorite manga fundoshi
In the website of the association you can find an explanation of how to put on a fundoshi step by step:
We are at the moment right in the middle of the hanabi 花火 (花: “flower”, 火: “fire”) season in Japan. Firework festivals are one of the most traditional ways for the Japanese people to celebrate Summer. The tradition is to dress up in a yukata and gather in public places to see the fireworks.
One way of calculating the reputation of a hanabi is to count the number of explosions heard. This year, in the first ranked hanabi in Japan 100,000 explosions/blasts were counted. The hanabi in Sumidagawa, with 22,000 explosions, is the most popular in Tokyo and has been celebrated for 300 years.
This year, me and my friends went to the hanabi of Jingu Gaien, which this year has ranked third in the local rankings in Tokyo.
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