Festivals and celebrations are very common in Japan and occur for one reason or other all year round. The following celebrations are specifically associated with the winter months or with the Imperial family.
New Year Celebrations (Oshōgatsu) (1 January)
The New Year holiday is one of the biggest holidays of the entire year. Businesses and schools close over New Year, and the holiday runs from 1 to 3 January. On New Year's Day, people visit shrines to pray for health and happiness throughout the coming year, and exchange New Year's cards much like people in the West exchange Christmas cards. It's also traditional to give money to children. There are traditional foods for new year, called osechi ryori, which are prepared and placed in nested boxes at the end of the previous year so that people can enjoy the new year celebrations without having to spend time cooking; the food is specially chosen so that it doen't spoil easily, and includes sweet black beans, a variety of fish, shellfish, and fish paste, rolled omelette, seaweed, and pickled vegetables. The New Year celebration is a time for families to get together and look forward to the coming year.
Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading (Utakai Hajime)
The new year's poetry reading is one of the traditional activities for the new year, and the Imperial family hold a new year's poetry reading at the Imperial Palace in January each year. The Emperor and Empress and other members of the family attend the reading, and poems composed by members of the Imperial family are read out to the invited participants after the reciting of poems composed by poets and members of the public and selected by a panel of poets, who also select the topic for the poems. The event has grown in recent years and is also televised.
Imperial New Year's Lectures (Kousho Hajime)
The Imperial new year's lectures are held at the Imperial Palace in January each year. The Emperor and Empress and other members of the imperial family, as well as senior politicians and civil servants, attend the lectures, which are given by experts in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This tradition dates back to the Meiji Restoration in 1869.
National Foundation Day (Kenkoku Kinen-bi) (11 February)
The founding of the nation of Japan is celebrated on 11 February, which is believed to be the date of the enthronement of the first Japanese emperor, Emperor Jinmu. The holiday dates back to 1873, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted; at that time it was known as Kigen-setsu. It was abolished after the Second World War, but in 1966 it was introduced in its present form, which is considerably more low-key and less nationalistic.
Shōwa Day (Shōwa No Hi) (29 April)
Although traditionally only the current emperor's birth is celebrated as a national holiday, the birthday of Emperor Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa), the father of the present emperor, has recently become a holiday. This day used to be Greenery Day (another national holiday); Greenery Day is now celebrated on 4 May. Both Shōwa Day and Greenery Day occur during "Golden Week" (the name given to the week including the end of April and the beginning of May, which contains several national holidays).
Constitution Memorial Day (Kenpo Kinenbi) (3 May)
This is one of the festivals of Golden Week; it celebrates the adoption of the new constitution on 3 May 1947. Among the celebrations are lectures and newspaper essays on democracy; the National Diet Building is opened to the public on this day.
Culture Day (Bunka No Hi) (3 November)
The Culture Day holiday is a celebration of Japanese culture and arts. It dates from the Meiji Restoration in 1869 and is held on the birthday of Emperor Meiji (the great-grandfather of the current emperor). During Emperor Meiji's lifetime, this holiday was the Emperor's Birthday holiday (which is now held on 23 December, the birthday of the current emperor). The announcement of the new postwar constitution was made on 3 November 1946, and the Culture Day holiday therefore also acknowledges the values enshrined in the constitution. On Culture Day, the Emperor presents the Order of Culture awards to individuals who have made special contributions to the fields of culture, arts, and sciences.
Emperor's Birthday (Tenno No Tanjobi) (23 December)
The birthday of Emperor Akihito on 23 December is a national holiday. This holiday is only for the birthday of the current emperor, so at the start of the next reign the holiday will move to a different day. Since the birthdays of Emperor Meiji and Emperor Shōwa are now the dates of other holidays, it is possible that 23 December will also become a permanent holiday of some sort in the future.
Christmas (25 December)
Christmas is not a traditional Japanese holiday, but it's celebrated by many Japanese these days with exchanges of gifts, decoration of homes and especially stores, and special food. Japanese Christmas cake is made with sponge cake, strawberries, and cream - a very different tradition from the Western fruit cake.
New Year's Eve Celebrations (Ōmisoka) (31 December)
The New Year's Eve celebration is a preparation for the major New Year's celebration which occupies the first few days of January. It involves cleaning house thoroughly and preparing the food to be consumed over the New Year's holiday. Traditionally, buckwheat noodles (which are supposed to ensure a healthy and prosperous year) are eaten on the evening of 31 December. At midnight, the bells in the shrines are rung 108 times to symbolise the driving out of earthly passions and to announce the New Year.
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