左義長（どんど焼き）
On the 15th of January, Japanese gather to burn their "shimenawa"（しめ縄）New Year's decorations.
The decoration at right is typical of
Kyoto New Year's decorations.
This ceremony is called
Dondoyaki, and also serves as a prayer for a year with no illness, no death, and no fire.
In large cities, it is mostly a thing of the past. However, on the outskirts of many cities and in the countryside the ceremony is still held.
On the lunar calendar, the 15th is "small New Year's"（小正月). On this day, neighbors gather and make a bonfire.
Into this fire go the decorations. In some areas, works of calligraphy are also added.
People drink sake, shoot the breeze - and pray for a year of health.
The ashes are then used as fertilizer.
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紅白歌合戦
With just over a month remaining in 2009, Japanese eyes are beginning to turn towards the annual "
Kohaku Uta Gassen" New Year's Eve television extravaganza.
Unlike the West, New Year's Eve in Japan is a fairly tame affair. Many stay home and watch
Kohaku, which literally means "Red White."
In a nutshell, the program is a singing "battle." The great and famous from Japan's music world are divided into Red (female) and White (male) teams. A panel of almost as famous judges evaluates each act, and then just prior to the tolling of the temple bells to ring in the new year one team is declared the winner.
To generate excitement, the eagerly awaited list of guests on the NHK program was recently announced.
Here is this year's lineup:
Red Team aiko
Junko Akimoto
Ayaka
Angela Aki
Ikimono Gakari
Sayuri Ishikawa
AKB48
Ai Otsuka
GIRL NEXT DOOR
Miyuki Kawanaka
Kaela Kimura
Kumi Koda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Yoshimi Tendo
DREAMS COME TRUE
Mika Nakashima
Mitsuko Nakamura
Ayumi Hamasaki
Perfume
Ayaka Hirahara
Nana Mizuki
Kaori Mizumori
Akiko Wada
White Team
Arashi
ALICE
Hiroshi Itsuki
EXILE
NYC boys
Saburo Kitajima
Takeshi Kitayama
Kobukuro
JeroSMAP
TVXQ
TOKIO
Hideaki Tokunaga
Kiyoshi Hikawa
FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
Masaharu Fukuyama
Akira Fuse
flumpool
Takashi Hosokawa
Porno Graffiti
Kenichi Mikawa
Shinichi Mori
Yusuke Kamiji
Yuzu
Remioromen
The lineup is a mix of old and new, from Saburo Kitajima who will be making his 46th appearance on the program to first timer Arashi.
On the women's side two stalwarts will be leading the charge:
Kyoto's Kumi Koda and veteran Akiko Wada.
Another highlight is the annual outfit worn by Kenichi Mikawa - pictured above - ever the
campy performer.
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紅白歌合戦
The Kohaku Utagassen - popularly known as
Kohaku - is a New Year's Eve NHK TV program that has been an institution in Japan since its radio beginnings in 1951. A red (
ko) and white (
haku) team, each made up of invited famous entertainment personalities battles for top overall honors, judged by a panel also made up of celebrities from all walks of life.
I got together with a friend for an institution of our own: a
nabe (pot luck) dinner, followed by a midnight visit to the Toyokawa Inari Shrine in Tokyo's Akasaka district.
We finished the meal with a large bottle of sake, which my friend warmed up for us, making it extra drinkable. Kohaku seems to get more and more spectacular every year. The most over the top act was, unsurprisingly, the cross-dressing Kenichi Mikawa: a staple character on Kohaku every year. See photo above!
By the time we left for the shrine, I was rolling, and only made it out with great difficulty. I gradually sobered up slightly during the visit to the shrine. My friend is in the music industry, so therefore visits this particular shrine as it is dedicated to the god of music.
Toyokawa Inari Shrine was packed with supplicants, but the turnover is fast, so there was no queuing to get in. There is a restaurant on the premises where we ordered the trademark New Year specialty of
o-mochi rice cake and tea, which helped sober me up just a little more.
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あけましておめでとうございます
Happy 2009 to all our visitors. It's the Year of the Cow in 2009 and our
nengajo (New Year's Card) shows the kanji character for the year of the cow (丑) .
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We wish you all a peaceful and healthy 2009.
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