Happy Holidays from Kyoto Japan. I hope everyone enjoyed whatever festival they celebrate at this time. I of the breed that celebrates Christmas celebrated a humble Japanese Christmas. What does that mean?
I went to class at one in the afternoon and finished my last class at six in the evening! Christmas in Japan really is like any other day in Japan. I can remember working at AEON and having to request Christmas day off. I usually connected it with the holiday on the 23rd (Emperor's birthday) to make a long holiday. It became longer with the New Year's holiday and weekends attached. I was able to spend a whole 10 days in the U.S.
Of course, everyone else in Japan is doing the same thing at the same time, so plane tickets were more than $1500 at a time when gas was still relatively cheap.
So, this year, Kintama the student did not go home for the holidays. This is the first time I have never taken a trip at this time, but with school work piling up and no income, it makes sense to stay put for once. What will I see in the next couple of days?
There are lots of different traditions carried out during the holidays. One of them is the eating of Osechi. It is a meal consisting of very Japanese looking things including anchovi-sized fish, sweetened egg (similar to the sushi variety), and much more. People used to make it with their families (girls help their moms while dad and brothers rest), but now it is cheaper and simpler to buy it at a supermarket.
After countdown on New Year's Eve, people will be heading to their local shrine to wish for good luck in the new year. I will be taking pictures...or trying to...
Also around this time, little kids are receiving monetary presents from their relatives. I would love to get a monetary present...
Shops offer grab bags. $100 a pop, but the value of the contents is guarenteed to be more than $100. You could luck out and get a lot of things you really wanted or you could be left with things you don't need. You won't know unless you put that $100 down.
Everyone will be relaxing. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. I will not be able to withdraw money from an ATM from the 1st until the 3rd because the banks are not open and no one will be available to maintain the ATMs.
It's a busy time of year, but I hope my first New Year's in Japan goes off well...
Happy New Year to all my few readers.
6 months ago
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2 comments:
So which shrine did you go to for new years eve? There are still families that make osechi rather than buying it, but rather than resting while it was being made, I was on a beer run with gramps! People might say, "what dicks!" about Japanese men that don't help making osechi (or anything else for that matter), but I don't think the women would want them screwing everything up anyway.
If you want otoshidama, just get married to a Japanese girl. Unless your relatives are kechi... You're supposed to not be able to get otoshidama anymore if you're married or start working, but I guess there are exceptions when gaijin are involved in many cases. If you're lucky, you might even get otoshidama when you're just dating the girl too!
Oh, and kudos to you for the clever name of your blog. Very nice. :D
Dr. Doyle
Sorry for the late reply. I have been busy with schoolwork and haven't really be checking for comments.
I ended up heading over to Yasaka shrine here in Kyoto, but the amount of people overwhelmed me and I decided to give up and study at a nearby cafe.
As for the name, I tried to get Kintama, but it was already taken.
Thanks for the comment.
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