The last day of the year
Today is 「おおみそか」 (ōmisoka), the last day of the year. Traditionally in Japan, this is the day for a deep cleaning called 「おおそうじ」 (ōsōji). As a child, I didn’t like cleaning and tried to escape it whenever I could. For this end-of-year cleaning, we tackled places we normally ignored: all the windows, behind and under furniture that was usually never moved. It’s a way of cleansing the house—and ourselves—to welcome the New Year with a fresh start.
It’s also the period to make 「おせちりょうり」 (osechi ryōri), the special Japanese New Year’s food. The idea is to prepare enough dishes to last for the first three days of the year so that, traditionally, women could also rest and enjoy time with family instead of cooking constantly.
Growing up in Japan, my grandparents had a small noodle factory. Ōmisoka was the busiest day of the year, selling soba noodles for the midnight meal. It was all hands on deck for the whole family. My uncles would help make the noodles, boil them, and pack them, and we would sell them together with 「つゆ」 (tsuyu), the soup. Across the road, my grandmother’s brother had a small restaurant. He and his wife made tempura to sell alongside the soba. It was often freezing as we sold noodles; we’d sit close to the kerosene stove but had to jump up every time a customer came.
Eating soba noodles on ōmisoka is a Japanese tradition called「としこしそば」 (toshikoshi soba) – “year-crossing soba.” The long, thin buckwheat strands are eaten on New Year’s Eve to wish for a long life and to “cut off” the hardships of the old year so you can step lightly into the new one.
For dinner, we took home soba, soup, tempura, and a little allowance for working in the shop. After eating, we would walk or bike to a nearby shrine to ring the large bell. This is 「じょやのかね」 (Joya-no-kane), the New Year’s Eve bell that is rung through midnight. It is said to ring 108 times, representing the 108 earthly desires in Buddhism that are symbolically cleared away for the new year. I always wondered if someone was really counting, and whether the 109th person would be refused his/her turn.
Some houses would bring out New Year’s decorations for the house, too. A 「かどまつ」 (kadomatsu) made of pine and bamboo, or a simple 「しめなわ」 (shimenawa) straw rope above the door to welcome the New Year deity and keep bad spirits away.
Traditionally, we say 「よいおとしを」 (yoi otoshi o!)—“Have a good year!”—to send each other off into the new year. You can also say 「今年は ありがとう ございました」 (kotoshi wa arigatō gozaimashita) : Thank you so much for this year. And we often add 「らいねん も どうぞ よろしく おねがいします」 (rainen mo dōzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu): Thank you for next year.
