Japan Edition
Ano Viejo leads today's complete edition for Japan.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
Not an official holiday, but try finding someone at work. The country gathers at the coast to watch the Valparaiso fireworks, eats twelve grapes at midnight for twelve wishes, and toasts with champagne. The Valparaiso show is three kilometers of fireworks over the bay and it is spectacular. The grapes are mandatory.
The fireworks over Sydney Harbour are watched by a billion people worldwide and by a hundred thousand people standing in the Domain with warm champagne and sore feet. The countdown is shouted. The kiss at midnight is given. And someone has already set off illegal fireworks in the suburban backyard and the dog is under the bed.
Another midnight celebration with the whole family. The leftover pan dulce from Christmas reappears, the sidra is still flowing, and someone counts down from ten. Paper fireworks in the street, hugs all around, and the unshakeable feeling that next year, surely, things will be better. "El ano que viene si," the eternal Argentine hope.
At midnight on December 31st, Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times, once for each of the 108 worldly desires (bonno) that cause suffering. The bell-ringing is called joya no kane, and it is one of the most atmospheric moments in the Japanese year. The bell is struck with a wooden beam, the sound resonates for 30 seconds, and the silence between strikes is as important as the strikes themselves.
The Kohaku Uta Gassen is the New Year's Eve music show that has aired on NHK every year since 1951. The female singers (red team) compete against the male singers (white team), and the audience votes for the winner. The show is watched by 30 to 40 percent of Japan, and appearing on Kohaku is the highest honor for a Japanese singer. The enka singers perform last, and the final song is always emotional, because enka is the music of longing, loss, and the things that cannot be said out loud.
The final day of the year is spent cleaning, cooking, and preparing. The osechi ryori (New Year's food) is prepared in advance and stored in lacquered boxes (jubako). Each dish has a symbolic meaning: kuromame (black beans) for diligence, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (dried sardines) for a good harvest, and datemaki (sweet omelet) for scholarship. The food is eaten for three days, because cooking during the first three days of the new year is forbidden. The preparation is the work. The three days are the rest.
The last meal of the year is soba (buckwheat noodles), eaten at midnight. The long noodles represent longevity, and the ease of cutting them represents the cutting away of the old year's troubles. The soba is simple, the broth is hot, and the act of eating it at the threshold of the new year is a bridge between the old and the new.
A day for clearing the surface, finding the note, opening the notebook, and giving the workday a better beginning.
A day for washing the thing people refill every day and forget to clean often enough.
You observe green sea turtles, frigatebirds, and Antillean crested hummingbirds as the distinctive wildlife native to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. You find that dogs, cats, and colorful tropical fish are the most popular pets among residents of these Caribbean islands. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.
