Holiday Spotlight: Omisoka
What is Omisoka and how do people celebrate?
Omisoka is the Japanese word for New Year’s Eve or December 31 and is celebrated as the beginning of a new year with new possibilities.
Omisoka preparation
To prepare for the new year many people purify their homes and remove clutter from the last year. This is a time to do a deep cleaning, called “osoji”.
Celebrations across Japan
To celebrate this holiday, people will have giant feasts with family and friends with traditional Japanese food.
Then at 11pm many gather to have one last meal of toshinoshi-soba (noodles). This stems from the belief that eating long noodles will give you a long life and help cross from one year to the next. The reason so much food is made during this time is because it is thought to be unlucky to cook in your kitchen for the first three days of the New Year and most businesses close.
In addition, it’s also a spiritual time. Meaning that a lot of Japanese people will visit Shinto shrines at midnight. These temples will ring a large cast iron bell to signify the 108 early wants that created human suffering.
However your family celebrates the New Year we at Lifeline Connections wish you good health and prosperity.
New Year’s Eve events for those in recovery
If you’re looking for something fun to do with like-minded people in recovery, come to the Recovery Resource Center this Friday at 6pm for Family Bingo Night! There will be prizes, gift bags and a countdown for the kids at 9pm before the evening ends. Learn more by following the link: https://fb.me/e/3XgjxYYHc
