Do the Japanese celebrate this occasion? I know that the Vietnamese have a huge celebration for more than a week with fireworks and gifts (red envelopes) and drinking, feasting, tree decorating, etc. This year is the year of the Mouse (ty, chuot) but when I said "happy new year" to anyone Japanese they would reply "huh?" Perhaps they only celebrate Western new year ?

The japanese celebrate new year on 1 January. I was in Japan in December and the shops were full of new years cards decorated with cute rats!

oh I see.. So Japanese celebrate the "western" new year. Chinese follow the lunisolar calendar so New Years usually starts in the beginning of February. So anyone born during January will be of the sign of the previous year. For example, if you were born on January 10th 2008 you would be born on the Year of the Pig. People born on February 15th 2008 would be year of the Mouse. As this is the biggest holiday of the year, Chinese/Vietnamese usually take a week off work like western countries do for Christmas. Thanks for the info, bonitoclub.

Japanese also take a week off work. [kana]shougatsu[/kana] is one of the biggest holidays, though lacking in the festivities of lunar New Year celebrations. It's all shrine visits & New Year's Cards, which are quite a big deal. I wouldn't go so far as to say they celebrate the Western New Year, though the date matches up (probably because of the Occupation, I'd bet).

billyclyde Wrote:I wouldn't go so far as to say they celebrate the Western New Year, though the date matches up (probably because of the Occupation, I'd bet).

actually, they changed during meiji. I always assumed that baseball came from the occupation, but that was adopted during meiji too...

before Meiji did the Japanese use the Chinese calendar system or one of their own creation? If they had their own, when was the New Year?

Huh, interesting... The Chinese New Year has a very "coming of Spring" atmosphere,, so seeing the same thing during winter-time is a bit strange. Looks like they also practice "お年玉" like the Chinese.

@cangy
That makes sense-- if you're trying to catch up to the outside world, then study Western science, wear Western clothes, and use their calendar, too.

For baseball, Wikipedia says Horace Wilson brought it over in 1872, but I thought I'd read that the Jesuits had done it. I at least know they brought beer to Japan. They spread more than faith!

@Stehr
Japan does have many major transitions in the spring-- school years, job hirings, etc fall in March/April. Hana-mi is probably the biggest spring thing, maybe that hits the "coming of Spring" atmosphere you mention.