New Year is one of the favorite holidays in Japan. New Year, or in Japanese O-Shōgatsu is celebrated on January 1 of each year like in the rest of the world. However, earlier Japanese celebrated New Year according to lunar calendar, and passed to the standard dates only at the end of the 19th century.

Japan, of course, has its traditions and symbols. So, instead of a habitual Christmas trees residents of Japan decorate the houses with Kadomatsu . Kadomatsu is Christmas decoration in Japan usually made of pine, a bamboo, a fern which are tied up by a straw rope. It is exposed on the street before an entrance to the house or an apartment.  Each detail of ornament has a special meaning. Japanese homes are also decorated with a special New Year's attributes: hamayumi- decorative set of bow and arrow (demon-breaking arrow), takara bune - small boats, which are filled with rice, beans, lentils and a variety of other things. It is believed that there are seven gods of good luck riding on it.

According to the Buddhist religion, person has six sins, he can be greedy, angry, avid, silly, frivolous and irresolute. At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples all people all over Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times  to symbolize 108 human sins in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen.

Japanese people are reserved and ceremonious. And New Year is considered a family holiday. Ōmisoka, New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year's Day, which is the most important day of the year.

Japanese like to send each other cards and congratulations. The number of letters in the holidays reaches 4 billion.