In Japan, we have a custom of sending New Year's cards to persons who are close to us, and to persons who we feel that have done us some favor during the past year.
And New Year's cards are called "Nengajo" in Japanese, and I am sending my New Year's card to you to express my appreciation for all you have done for me.
"Thank you very much for your kind support last year. I wish you all the best in this year."
P.S. However, nowadays, young generation prefer to send their New Year’s greetings on chat or on Internet. So servers often get overloaded for a while on New Year’s Day.
Many Japanese people visit a shrine during the first three days of January in order to make traditional New Year's wishes for health and happiness. This is the first visit to a shrine that is called "Hatsumode" in Japanese.
Some shrines like "Meiji Jingu" are visited by more than 3 million worshippers, and the shrine is opened specially on the night of New Year's Eve, so some people visit a shrine in the middle of the night.
Some people buy good luck charms ("Omamori") or sacred arrows ("Hamaya") in order to invite good fortune and ward off the evil.
P.S. However, nowadays, New Year's visit to a shrine is not almost religious meaning, and it has become New Year's event.
By the way, my family is going to visit a nearby shrine.
I want to introduce a opinion in recent years against Japanese New Year.
"When we eat New Year dishes, brilliant cuisines of New Year dishes are cold. In order that New Year dishes are kept good as long as possible, those are very sweet or very salty, so I have never thought that New Year dishes are delicious.
Even if we cannot eat shrimp or sea bream on New Year's Day, we can eat it anytime. And we can dress up anytime. We feel like that.
This is perhaps unfortunate. It is better that we feel happy on New Year's Day. However, in recent years, more or less, everybody feel like that.
New Year's Day is not a special day in Japan.
Entertainments have been provided through the day and night, and every day is like New Year's Day."
Many streets, buildings, and stores are decorated with twinkling festive lights during the Christmas season in Japan. As you no doubt already know, Christmas is originally the annual Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and Christmas is a widely observed holiday around the world. However, Christmas Day is not a national holiday in Japan.
Christmas in Japan is a little different from Christmas in western countries. Traditional faiths as Buddhism and Shinto are practiced in Japan, but Japanese people are usually enjoying Christmas, regardless of their religion. (Of course, there are some people who are more strict about religion.) Christmas in Japan is more like a festival and a commercial matter, rather than a sacred event.
Important Christmas food for most Japanese are cake and chicken. Cakes are not usually homemade, and cakes are typically purchased by fathers on their way home from work. Some people buy cakes at convenience stores, but some people order luxurious cakes from famous hotels.
And some people still retain a childlike festive wonder, filling stockings with presents and saying they are from Santa Claus. By the way, the current presents are generally digital games, computerized toys, smartphones, and etc.
P.S. In Japan, I think that family of no children do not Christmas party.
This photo is a Japanese chess called "Shogi" in Japanese.
"Shogi" is a game like a chess, and "Shogi" is a Japanese board game that is played by 2 players, and the object of game is to capture the opponent's King.
"Shogi" is played on a 9-by-9 board, and each player has 20 pieces, and those are 1 King, 2 Gold Generals, 2 Silver Generals, 2 kNights, 2 Lances, 1 Rook, 1 Bishop, and 9 Pawns.
In addition, there are many persons who play "Shogi" around the world.
By the way, at the moment, nobody can win the computer in "Shogi".
When persons listen to music, A10 nerve is stimulated, and A10 nerve that was stimulated secretes Dopamine, Serotonin, β-Endorphin, and etc.
(1) Dopamine has the function that uplifts and increases motivation and feels so good and etc. (2) Serotonin has the function that the mood becomes calm and etc. (3) β-Endorphin has the function that the mood becomes euphoria and etc.
In addition, the music has a variety of effects by genre, and I want to introduce one example of music effects.
[Classical music raise the ability to concentrate and activate the brain]
While we are studying a foreign language, and when Bach's unhurried songs of 4 time signature were played in the background, there is a research of Europe that had the most effect. In addition, it is said that Mozart's songs also raise the ability to concentrate.
Oxytocin and Serotonin are brain substance that become happy mood, but quality of happiness is different.
Our stress is released, and we feel connection with others, and we become warm mood. By Oxytocin, we become warm happy mood like that. We do not care about little things, and we keep ordinary mood and we become calm. By Serotonin, we become happy mood like that.
Oxytocin is secreted when we are in touch with lover, wife (husband), or one's child. Secretion of Serotonin is increased when we do rhythmic movement or sunbathe. In addition, Zazen is also known that secretion of Serotonin is increased.
First : Please imagine a situation that you are in touch with lover, wife (husband), or your child. You became warm mood? Your mood became warm, and you became smiling face? Happiness of Oxytocin is like that.
Then : When you are doing Zazen, how mood will you become? Zen masters say, the head become clear and the worldly thoughts disappear and the mood become calm. Happiness of Serotonin is like that.
Anthropologist "Helen Fisher" has proposed that "The love ends in 4 years". That rationale is data about divorce that was aggregated based on data of the United Nations.
According to its data, the divorces at 4-th year from marriage are the most many, and the married couples tend to divorce from 3-th year to 5-th year. Well then, why are the divorces at 4th year many? It is...
Because human children are born in the immature state, in order to grow children, it is important that father and mother are cooperative. However, if human children are not in the immature state, the necessity to continue the pair relation of men and women will be low.
In addition, in the prehistoric age, in the bad living environment of nutritional state, it is estimated that women had been able to give birth to next child at 4-th year from last birth.
From these, Fisher is saying "couples that will divorce at 4-th year and will look for the next opposite sex are many".
One answer to this question has been given from field of "evolutionary psychology". That answer is "in order to prosper offspring".
Ancient hunter-gatherer life had been harsh. So pregnant women or women who have babies had been very difficult to live alone. And men had also wanted that their children who inherit their genes will not die. So it had been necessary that men and women cooperate with each other, and raise children.
However, it takes more than 10 months until human child is born, and if men and women separate in the meantime, children who will be born are more likely to be exposed to danger. In other words, in order not to uproot descendants, it had been necessary that men and women are tied psychologically over a long period of time.
And in order that men and women are tied over a long period of time, the given human emotion seems "love".
In short, human who have emotion of "love" in the course of evolution had been more easy to survive than else, and had been more easy to prosper offspring than else.
For that, also now, we seems have the emotion of "love".
