The Japanese celebrate the New Year with various traditions to bring good luck and celebrate with loved ones. If you’re on a Japan tour around this holiday, there are numerous festivities you can partake in to ring in the New Year, including the following.   

Top 4 Ways for Tourists to Celebrate the New Year in Japan

1. Visit a Shrine

Japanese culture follows a tradition known as hatsumode. This celebration entails visiting a shrine to pray for good luck in the upcoming year. Since it’s often a part of Japan tours and frequented by tourists, smaller shrines outside the city limits may be less crowded than those in metropolitan areas.

2. Pick Your Fortune

Many shrines offer omikuji, or fortunes on slips of paper for the new year, with varying degrees of luck, from “great blessing” to “great curse.” Purchase a good luck charm called an omamori if you wind up with a poor forecast. Then tie your omikuji onto the designated railing or fence where other visitors have left behind their ill fortunes to ensure the bad luck doesn’t follow you. 

3. Enjoy Traditional Japanese Foods

During New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, it’s customary for Japanese families to enjoy traditional osechi ryori. This is a collection of foods placed together in a lacquer box. Each represents a wish, like kobumaki (kelp rolls) to bring happiness and gobo (burdock root) for strength and stability.

4. Purchase a Lucky Bag

After the holidays, many stores have an abundance of unsold merchandise that must go to make room for new products, and the Japanese have made that common scenario into a shopping tradition. You can stop by nearly any store or restaurant to pick up a fukubukuro, or lucky bag. These bags contain several goods sold at discounted prices, though what you get is a mystery depending on the establishment. Along with store products, it may include snacks and good luck trinkets.

If you want to create lifelong memories by experiencing the New Year in Japan, consult the team at N & K Travel Service in Honolulu, HI. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing getaway, a guided Japan tour, or simply want to experience other cultures, these travel professionals will handle the arrangements. To learn more about their services and over 30 years of experience, visit them online or call (808) 739-9010.