New Year – Gleanings in Buddha-Fields

Happy Year of the Rabbit

Hello Readers and Happy New Year! In Japanese, people greet each other for the first time using the stock phrase akemashite omedetō gozaimasu (明けましておめでとうございます) which means something like “congrats on the opening of a new year”. Note that Japanese New Year is based on Chinese New Year, but since early industrialization period, the Meiji Period,Continue reading “Happy Year of the Rabbit”

Japanese New Year: a shopping list

If you, or a loved one, are celebrating Japanese New Year, Oshōgatsu (お正月), you may need to do some shopping. During the December in 2021, we got snowed in really bad, and my wife couldn’t go to the local Japanese supermarket to buy goods and ingredients herself. So, I went on her behalf using publicContinue reading “Japanese New Year: a shopping list”

New Year’s Terms and Greetings in Japanese

Although it’s still a couple weeks away, New Year’s is just around the corner, and it is a big occasion in Japanese culture. You see, Japan, like many other east Asian countries, relied on the Chinese lunar calendar for centuries, but then moved to the Western solar calendar during the 19th century Meiji Period. NewContinue reading “New Year’s Terms and Greetings in Japanese”