(English version below)

あけましておめでとう!
クリスマス休暇がある欧米と違い、日本の冬休みは12月29日~1月3日が通例だ。特に年始の3日間は「お正月」※と呼び、神社に参拝したり特別な料理を食べてお祝いしたりする。
※正確には1月を指す言葉だが、慣例的に年始の3日間を指して使うことが多い
今回は今年の私のお正月の過ごしかたや街の雰囲気について書こうと思う。
深夜の初詣
年が明けてから初めて神社や寺院に参拝することを「初詣」という。
お正月には、家族や友人と初詣に行くのが日本の慣習だ。
今年は夫と、私の家から歩いて20分程度のところにある「春日大社」(奈良)へ初詣に行ってきた。約1300年の歴史を持ち、世界遺産にも指定されている有名な神社だ。
初詣は三が日(1月1日~3日)のどこかで行く人が多いが、特に期限はないので、私はこれまでは混雑を避けるために4日以降に行くことが多かった。
今年は春日大社の混雑具合を見てみたいと夫が言い出したので、年が明けてすぐに深夜の初詣をすることにした。
紅白を見終わってすぐ(31日夜12時少し前)に家を出て、除夜の鐘を聞きながら春日大社へ向かい、参道に着いたのは12時過ぎ。
とても混雑していて、本殿まで長い行列ができていた。

普段は外国人観光客が多い奈良だが、このときばかりは周囲はほぼ日本人。夜中だからか若い人が多かった。
屋台で甘酒を買って飲みながら並ぶこと2時間。やっと本殿にたどり着いた。

お賽銭箱にお賽銭を入れ、手を合わせて今年の幸せを祈る。
続いておみくじを引いた。

おみくじは今年の吉凶を占い、神様からのアドバイスを頂くためのもの。
選んだ棒に書いてある番号を伝えると、巫女さんがその番号のおみくじを渡してくれる。
さて、2025年の運勢は…?
なんと、2人とも「凶」!
あまり信じてはいないものの、やっぱりどうせ持ち帰るなら良い結果がいい。
ということで、凶のおみくじはおみくじかけ(下の写真)に結んで…

気を取り直してもう一度おみくじを引いた。
今度は私が「大吉」、夫は「中吉」。満足したのでこちらは持って帰ることに。
そのあと「交通安全」と「厄除け」の御守りを“受けた”。
(御守りは神様からの授け物なので、有料ではあるが「買った」ではなく「受けた」「頂いた」などという。)
本殿を出るときにはもう2時過ぎ。すっかり身体が冷えてしまったので急いで家に帰った。
お正月の街の様子
次の日、朝起きて奈良の街を散歩した。
私が住んでいる奈良には春日大社を含め有名な初詣スポットがたくさんあるので、お正月には街はかなり賑わう。この日もすごい人出だった。
お正月に街を歩くと、玄関にしめ飾りや門松飾りを飾っている家がたくさんある。年神様※をお迎えするために、目印としたり、神聖な場所であることを示すのが目的だ。
※年の始めに家にやってきて一年間の幸せをもたらすといわれている。
この飾りは基本的に毎年、新しいものを用意する。使いまわすのは神様に失礼だと考えられているからだ。
使い終わった飾りは、1月中旬に神社で行われる「どんど焼き」(正月飾りを持ち寄って焼く行事)などで燃やして処分する。
実家でお正月料理をいただく
お正月は親族で集まったり、実家へ帰ったりする人が多い。私も今年は夫と一緒に実家へ帰った。
「あけましておめでとうございます」と挨拶しあい、兄の子供たちにお年玉としてお小遣いをいくらか渡したあと、お正月料理を頂きながら家族団らんした。
お正月に食べる、お重に詰められた料理を「おせち」という。

ご覧のとおり、さまざまな料理が色鮮やかに詰められている。
品数は地域にもよるけれど20~30種類程度。ひとつひとつの食材にはそれぞれおめでたい意味がある。
たとえば、海老は茹でると背中が丸くなることから「長寿」、数の子は卵の数が多いことから「子孫繁栄」の願いが込められている。
私の実家でも昔はほとんど手作りしていたけれど、最近は半分以上の料理はお店で購入し、家で作ったものと合わせてお重に詰めるようになった。
お餅もお正月に欠かせない食べ物だ。

お餅も、昔は近所の人で集まって杵と臼を使ってついたり、家庭用の餅つき機で手作りしていた。私の実家でも去年までは家で作っていたが、今年は市販のものを購入。
食べ方はいろいろあるけれど、私はきな粉やあんこと一緒に頂くのが好き。夫は醤油をからめて海苔で巻いて食べる派。
長めの冬休みもあっという間に終わり
今年のお正月は、初詣と実家へ行った以外は、近所を散歩したりしてひたすらのんびり過ごした。
今年の冬休みは例年より少し長めで、5日まで休みだったが、例年通り、今年もあっという間だった。
この記事を書いている6日は仕事始めの日。
オフィスでみんなと「あけましておめでとうございます。」と挨拶し合い、少し冬休みの話をしたりして、「今年もよろしくお願いします。」と仕事を始めた。
2025年もがんばろう。良い1年になりますように。
(Translated from Japanese)
Happy New Year!
Unlike Christmas holidays in Europe and the United States, winter holidays in Japan are usually from 29th December to 3rd January. In particular, the first three days of the year are called the "Shōgatsu"* (Japanese New Year), and people celebrate by visiting shrines and eating special dishes.
* To be precise, it refers to January, but it is customarily used to refer to the first three days of the year.
I would like to talk about how I spent my New Year's Day this year and the atmosphere of the city I live in.
First Shrine Visit of the Year
Visiting a shrine or temple for the first time after the beginning of the year is called "Hatsumōde".
On New Year's Day, it is a tradition in Japan to visit a shrine or a temple for the first time with family and friends.
This year, my husband and I went to Kasuga-taisha Shrine (Nara), which is about 20-minutes’ walk from my house. It is a famous shrine with a history of about 1,300 years and has been designated as a World Heritage Site.
Many would go for "Hatsumōde" between 1st and 3rd January, but there is no strict period, so I often go after the 4th to avoid crowds.
This year, my husband wanted to see how crowded Kasuga-taisha Shrine was, so I decided to make my first visit at midnight as soon as the new year began.
I left the house immediately after watching Kōhaku (an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK), a little before 12 o'clock at night on the 31st and headed to Kasuga-taisha Shrine while listening to the New Year's Eve bell, and arrived just after 12 o'clock. It was very crowded and there was a long queue to the main shrine.

Nara usually has a lot of tourists, but at this time, there were almost only local people around, particularly many young people, probably because it was the middle of the night.
I bought amazake at a stall and queued for 2 hours while drinking. We finally reached the main shrine.

Put the money in the gift box and put your hands together to pray for happiness for the year.
Then I drew an "Omikuji", fortune slip.

Omikuji tells the fortune for the year and shows advice from the Gods.
Tell the miko san (shrine maiden/ priestess) the number written on the stick you have chosen, and she will give you a fortune slip of that number.
So, what is the fortune of 2025...?
To my surprise, both of them are "kyō" (misfortune)!
I don't really believe in it, but if I'm going to take it home anyway, I'd like a good result.
So, I tied the “kyō” fortune slip to the rope (photo below) ...

I changed my mind and drew another omikuji.
This time, I got "Daikichi" (great blessing) and my husband got "Chū-kichi" (middle blessing). I was satisfied with this one and took it home with me.
After that, we "received" the omamori (good luck charms) for "traffic safety" and "protection from evil".
(Since an omamori is a gift from God, even though we need to buy it, we say we “receive” it rather than we “buy” it).
By the time we left the main shrine, it was already past 2 o'clock. It was so cold that I hurried home.
The City during the New Year
The next morning, I took a walk around Nara.
In Nara, where I live, there are many famous “Hatsumōde” spots, including Kasuga-taisha Shrine, so the city is quite busy during the New Year.
If you walk around the city on New Year's Day, you will see houses with decorations on the front door and “kadomatsu” (paired bamboo and pine decorations). The purpose is to welcome the god of the year* as a landmark or to indicate that it is a sacred place.
*It is said that the God comes to the house at the beginning of the year and brings happiness for the year.
We need to prepare new ones every year. It is considered disrespectful to God to reuse the decorations. Used decorations are disposed of by burning them at the "Dondoyaki" (an event in which New Year's decorations are brought in and burned) held at the shrine in mid-January.
Enjoy New Year’s Food Parents’ Home
On New Year's Day, many would gather with their relatives or return to their parents' homes. This year, my husband and I went back to my parents' house.
After greeting each other with "Happy New Year" and giving “Otoshidama” (monetary gift in special envelops) as a New Year's gift to my brother's children, we gathered together to enjoy New Year's food.
The dishes eaten on New Year's Day are called "osechi".

As you can see, a variety of dishes are colourfully packed.
The number of items varies depending on the regions, but there are about 20~30 types. Each dish has its own symbolic meaning.
For example, shrimps have a curled back when boiled, which symbolises longevity. and herring roes consist of a large number of eggs, they symbolise fertility and prosperity.
My family used to make most of our osechi by ourselves, but recently we have started to buy more than half of the food from the shop and pack it together with our homemade dishes.
Mochi (rice cakes) are also an indispensable food for the New Year.

In the past, mochi was made together with the neighbours using a pestle and mortar, or handmade with a home mochi making machine. My family used to make it at home until last year. This year we bought mochi from the shop.
There are many ways to eat mochi, but I like to eat it with soybean flour and red bean paste. My husband likes to eat mochi with soy sauce and roll it in seaweed.
The long winter holiday is over in the blink of an eye
This year's New Year's holiday, except for the first shrine visit and the trip to my parents' home, I spent most of the time walking around the neighbourhood.
This year's winter holiday was a little longer than usual (till the 5th), but it went by quickly like every year.
I returned to work on the 6th and greeted my colleagues with "Happy New Year", talked a little about the winter holiday, and said, “I look forward to working with you again this year”.
Let's do our best in 2025 and I wish you a wonderful year!

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