Typical Schedules Of Japanese People At The End Of A Year

New Year celebration is one of the biggest seasonal events for Japanese people. Also it's the biggest vacation time and most people have their New Year vacation at least between December 31st and January 3rd. However, traditionally there are many things to do as preparations for New Year celebration, so most people become more busy before having their vacation. 

One of the pre-new-year preparations is sending out New Year greeting cards as I introduced in my previous post on November 22nd, then after finishing the work, what else people would do for the preparations? 

First, people have a big clean-up of their house, then go out for shopping to get all the stuff for New Year celebration. There are traditional New Year decorations, and since the decorations are for one time use, people buy them every year. It is said that the new year decorations should be set up by 30th. 

Also, from January 1st to 3rd is traditionally the time for family gathering and New Year celebration parties. People eat New Year special dishes with their family and friends and actually the traditional dishes should be cooked before New Year. So, after Christmas grocery markets are still full of people coming to buy the ingredients or cooked new year food. 

Then, for those who prefer homemade new year dishes, between December 30th and 31st would be the busiest time for the cooking. Some people even make Mochi (rice cake) from sweet rice at home on December 30th and decorate part of it at home as you can see in the photos above and eat the rest during New Year celebration days.

On December 31st, the last day of the year, people eat one kind of Japanese noodle "Soba" called "Toshikoshi-soba (Noodle for New Year's Eve)". It is a tradition for the end of a year to wish longevity. After eating the noodle, finally it is the relaxing time to wait for count down!