New Year Part 1: New Year's Eve
On New Year's Eve, after the last shopping and cleaning and preparations for the holiday have been made, we can relax. For evening dinner, we make the traditional bowl of soba noodles, and join most people in watching Kohaku, a festive and high-spirited annual music show on government-sponsored NHK TV. The evening-long spectacle is designed to appeal to all age groups, and the singers old and young perform elaborately staged hits of the previous year or new versions of old favorites. This year, several sequences recalled the summer Olympics, with Japanese athletes joining skits and singing along.
In the last half hour of the year, as the Kohaku draws to an end, the bell of the small temple at the bottom of the road begins to boom. We wrap up and walk down to find a small group of neighbors taking it in turns to pull back the wooden pole suspended from the roof of the bell tower and letting the end swing and strike the side of the bell. Everyone does it once, then cycles round again to the back of the line. One by one, we climb the half-dozen steps of the tower. Put hands together and bow. Pull back the poll and let it smack against the bell, releasing a deep boom that echoes across the countryside. Put hands together and bow again. This is done 108 times—a member of the temple family is keeping track on a palm-sized counter, encouraging people to take their turns, and rewarding each ringer with a small box of cookies.
As midnight nears, people keep arriving, and gather round an oil drum with a fire inside that spits sparks high into the black night. There is a pan of warm
amazake, a sweet, thick drink made from fermented pulp left over after making sake, and it is ladled into paper cups for everyone who wants some.
(To be continued)
--Julian
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--Julian
--Julian