年賀状 （ねんがじょう）

12月に日本人がすることといえば、次の３つ。 　１．忘年会（ぼうねんかい） 　２．大掃除（おおそうじ） 　３．年賀状をおくること 年賀状はSMSやEメールで送る人も増えましたが、今でも大勢の人がオリジナルのカードを作って友達やお世話になった人におくります。 　赤(あか)い字(じ)で「年賀(ねんが)」と書(か)いて12(１２)月(がつ)25(２５)日(にち)までにポスト(ぽすと)に入(い)れると、必(かなら)ず、元旦(がんたん)（がんたん）に配達(はいたつ)されます。元旦(がんたん)というのは1月1日のことです。 お雑煮（ぞうに）や、お節料理（おせちりょうり）を家(いえ)族(ぞく)と食べながら、届(とど)いた年賀状をよむ・・・。それが元旦の楽しみです。

年賀状 (New Year Card)

During the month of December, the Japanese would do 3 of the following:

1. Year End Party

2. Special Clean Up

3. Send Nenga Jyou (New Year Cards) 

As technology advance, people use SMS or E-Mail to exchange New Year Greetings. Even so, there are still people who send out the traditional Nenga Jyou. When you post your Nenga Jyou, these two characters "年賀" has to be written with red ink and posted before 25th December. This is the time when all the post offices in Japan are kept busy. The post office would have to store all the Nenga Jyou before they can start delivering on the 1st January, New Year’s Day.

The Japanese would have Ozouni (Japanese Soup with Mochi Rice Cake) and Osechi Ryori (Japanese New Year Food) while reading the postcards that arrived. This is the joy and fun of Gantan (New Year). 

年越しそば と 除夜の鐘

  "New Year's Eve Buckwheat Noodles"　＆

”Joya no Kane”The tolling of　temple bells at midnight

日本では１２月３１日は「大晦日　（おおみそか）」と呼ばれています。
この日の夜、長寿を願ってそばを食べるのが古くからの伝統です。


3１ December, the last Day of the year is called "Ōmisoka (大晦日)"
Eating buckwheat noodles, and wishing for longevity has remained as one of the good old traditions of the night. 

大晦日の夜には日本中のお寺で１０８回鐘を鳴らします。これは「除夜の鐘」と呼ばれ、最大の仏教儀式の一つです。
日本の仏教信仰によると、人間は108の煩悩（ぼんのう）があると言われ、一年で蓄積された煩悩を全て洗い流すために、同じ回数鐘を鳴らします。
毎年、多くの人々が除夜の鐘の儀式を楽しみにしていています。特に京都の知恩院は大勢の人が集まることで有名です。７４tもある日本一大きな鐘を１７人もの僧侶が鳴らします。


  
Joya no Kane or the tolling of temple bells at midnight is the ringing of the bronze bell (temple bell) for 108 times around 12:00am on New Year's Eve (December 31). It is one of the biggest Buddhist ceremonies and it takes place throughout Japan's Buddhist Temples. The number 108 is sacred in many religions and there are a lot of meanings and coincidences regarding it. 

According to Japan's Buddhist beliefs, 108 is the number of passions and desires entrapping us in the cycle of suffering and reincarnation. Therefore, the 108 bell chimes symbolize the purification from the 108 delusions, sufferings and evil passions accumulated over the past year.

The Japanese New Year bell ringing ritual is actually an enjoyable experience, and the best place to watch Joya no Kane is the Chion-in Temple in Kyoto.
The large sized bell from the Chion-in Temple, cast in 1633, is the heaviest in Japan (74 tons) and a team of 17 monks are required to ring it properly at the New Year ceremony!