Other Traditional & Japanese Culture
New Year’s decorations(shogatsukazari)
Decorations to welcome the god of the year at the beginning of the year to bring a bountiful harvest and happiness. Kadomatsu, shimenawa (sacred straw ropes), and rinne decorations are examples of such decorations. These decorations are also used to ward off evil spirits and wish for the child’s good health on the first day of the New Year. It was customary to present and decorate a hakkai for a boy’s first New Year’s gift and a hakoita for a girl’s. Decorations are usually begun in mid-December and put away by the following year’s koshogatsu (January 14-16), but some families keep the hakkai, hakkai arrow and hakoita displayed all year round to ward off evil and evil spirits.
