Happy New Year, Russell Street! This photo shows a "kadomatsu" - a decoration that you see everywhere around New Year's here. Some are fancier than others, but they all have two elements in common - Pine (which represents the "dwelling place" for the god that brings good luck),and Bamboo (which grows straight, representing consistency and integrity). I had big plans for some great photos for this blog - but I waited too long! I took a walk on New Year's Day, to take photos of all the various "Kadomatsu" in our neighborhood, but they had almost all been taken down already, right on schedule.
New Year's is a very quiet at-home type of holiday in Japan, a time to gather with extended family. People visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and they may travel very long distances to their home towns. The trains are packed and travel is difficult at this time. For 4 or 5 days virtually all businesses close. Foreigners like us are advised to stock up on food and hunker down at home during this time - and so we did! Our neighborhood felt like a ghost town for a few days.
While New Year's is a quiet family holiday here, Christmas is a secular "party" occasion for most Japanese. It is mainly for couples, perhaps like Valentine's Day in the U.S. However, we got a kick out of the fact that Christmas music - both secular and religious - was played in all the stores and train stations, throughout the month. I hope I didn't receive too many strange looks as I sang along under my breath:).
We met this happy couple on Christmas Eve in Kyoto. They are wearing their best "night on the town" traditional clothes. I will post more photos from Kyoto soon!
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