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The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year is usually celebrated between late January and February, during the first new moon. This year, it will be on Wednesday, January 2025. But if you’re in Japan, you may be wondering, “Does Japan celebrate Chinese New Year?” Here’s what you should know. Does Japan Celebrate Chinese New Year? The short answer is: No. Japanese do not celebrate New Year in the same way as other Asian countries do. From the 6th Century BC, Japan had a calendar that combined lunar and solar calendars. This was used as the main way of keeping time in Japan until 1873. In Japan, although it’s not common to celebrate the Lunar New Year, there are celebrations in the Chukagai (Chinatown areas) in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki and newly established Chinese communities in Ikebukuro. In this article, we explain more about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated in different parts of Japan. There was a time when Japan did celebrate the Lunar New Year. In the sixth century CE, the Chinese lunisolar calendar became the main way of timekeeping within Japan. This lasted until the year 1873. Before this came about, Japan actually celebrated New Year’s Day along with Vietnam, Korea and China. While Chinese children celebrating Lunar New Year receive money in red envelopes with gold lettering, Japanese children celebrating shōgatsu get their money in white and red envelopes (called otoshidama お年玉, or “year’s jewel”). Although Lunar New Year is not a holiday in Japan, it is celebrated in various ways. For example, there is the 15-day Chinese Spring Festival in Yokohama, where you can witness the Lion Dance, catch the Celebration Parade, and see thousands of lanterns on the final day of the festival. Wondering if Japan joins in on the Chinese New Year festivities? The short answer is no—Japan doesn’t officially celebrate Chinese New Year. Instead, the country follows the Gregorian calendar for its own New Year traditions, called shōgatsu , which kicks off on January 1st. If you want to celebrate the year of the snake in Japan, there are few better places to visit than Yokohama Chinatown, which has observed Chinese Spring Festival traditions since 1986. This To celebrate the New Year, many Chinese go to Kantei-Byo Temple, dedicated to the God of War Guan-Yu, and send their wishes by burning a traditional incense. The festivities span two weeks around the Chinese New Year when many events such as parades, dances, or songs are performed. The Chinese Zodiac is still a part of Japan’s New Year celebrations to this day. Despite changing to the Gregorian calendar, Japan celebrates the changing of the zodiac on January 1, welcoming any of the 12 animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Instead of celebrating the new year on January 1st, people celebrate the Lunar New Year in late January or early February. 2023’s Lunar New Year is on January 22nd, which officially marks the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac! The Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, is more commonly referred to as the Spring Festival in China and celebrations take place over 15 days. What happens? There’s a variety of customs and celebrations throughout China and among the global Chinese diaspora, but each of the days has a special significance which you can read more about here. Though Japanese New Year no longer coincides with the Chinese Spring Festival, Japan still uses a 12-year zodiac that is very similar to the Chinese zodiac, and many nengajō feature the New Year’s zodiac animal. In 2019, Japan will celebrate the Year of the Boar. Hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake. The Chinese enjoy eight consecutive public holidays for the 2025 Spring Festival, an opportunity to I was planning on going to DisneySea next year Feb 10 but when I was checking I noticed that it's the same day as Chinese New Year. Should I be worried about big crowds? I've heard I should avoid popular tourist destinations during their holidays though I'm not sure Japanese people celebrate Chinese New Year. However, prior to that, Chinese New Year was celebrated as the day Japan was founded by the legendary Emperor Jimmu (660 BC). Reply reply kaihatsusha TOKYO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- From red lanterns to dancing dragons, from savoring Chinese delicacies to dragon year tales, vibrant celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, have been held across multiple cities in Japan, allowing more people to immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere and experience the joy and charm of China's rich traditional culture. However, in towns like Okinawa and on some southern islands in Japan, people put flags out and eat the traditional soba for New Year. How Japanese Celebrate The New Year. In the Japanese language, New Year’s Eve is best known as 大晦日 (Ōmisoka). 晦 (miso) was originally written as 三十 (meaning 30). In modern Japan, the Gregorian New Year is celebrated, so the Lunar New Year is not a part of most Japanese people’s lives. Most Japanese people are unaware of the Lunar New Year and only hear about it mostly as Chinese New Year on the TV news. Unlike some Asian countries, where the Lunar New Year is among the largest celebrations, holidays in Japan focus on the Japanese New Year’s, which aligns with January 1st. Nevertheless, certain Lunar New Year customs persist in Japanese culture, especially in regions with significant immigrant populations or historical ties to the traditional
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