New Year Celebration in Japan and Thailand

There are many events people celebrate as their own culture, and there might be similarities and differences. If we learn those, it could be a good opportunity to deepen mutual understanding. I think one of the most celebrated events all over the world is New Year. There are many ways to celebrate, people might gather and enjoy fireworks, firecrackers, cheering drinking, and so on. There are many places the celebration is held at different time in each place like Luna New Year celebrates depending on lunar calendar usually around February, Diwali celebrates depending on Hindu calendar usually around November. In my home country Japan, we celebrate it, called Oshogatsu, on January 1 same as the U.S., but I found the place where celebrates in spring. Where do you think it is? It is Thailand, Thai New Year celebration is called Songkran and held on April 13. Oshogatsu in Japan and Songkran in Thailand, both are the New Year Celebration having similarities or differences both countries are in Asia.

In the cold winter, somewhere it is snowing, Oshogatsu starts the midnight on January 1, called Ganjitsu, and we continue to celebrate until January 7, these seven days called Matsu-no-uchi, we start preparing from the end of December.  It is the oldest celebration, started from before the 6th Century, and became common to general people in Edo-period (LIGHTBOAT). The reason why people start to prepare early and continue to celebrate long days is it relates to religious meaning, especially in Shinto. The event originally celebrates welcoming the one of gods, called Toshigami-sama, who represents of the abundant harvest and prosperity of descendants (LIGHTBOAT). For welcoming Toshigami-sama, we decorate the front door, offer Kagamimochi that represents the god of the sun, clean house before December 31 (Jaikumar). December 31 is also an important day, we call it Omisoka. We need to wait for Toshigami-sama to come on the moment of new year, so we don’t sleep before the day changes. While waiting for Toshigami-sama, we eat and drink nice food. Especially, we eat Toshikoshi soba, buckwheat noodle, it prays for long-life. (Bownas and Brown) After WWⅡ, Shinto became not national religion, and the Western culture became more popular, then these habits were changed little by little. Religious meaning became less, but people still pray for health and happiness for a whole year at shrines or temples.

Oshogatsu is also an important event as the opportunity that the whole family and relatives to gather. It was also important to my childhood because it was the opportunity that I could see my father. Even though we sometime lived separately for his job, we could meet surely during that time. We talked about what I/my siblings did in school or new year’s resolutions with special dishes my mother cooked. Those dishes are called Osechi, each dish has the meaning of praying for long-life, prosperity of descendants, hard-work, and wealth etc. Children get money, called Otoshidama. It is from relatives, but the actual meaning is the gift from Toshigami-sama sharing the fortune. It is a good memory for me getting a lot of money from relatives though I had to think about how I use money effectively. And now, Oshogatsu is still important me because it is an opportunity teaching Japanese culture to my children.

On the other hand, in the hottest season, the sun shines everywhere, Songkran starts on April 13, and now it is a national holiday trough 9 to 16 in April. Originally, it started in the ancient Kingdom of Sukhothai (13th – 15th Century) (Baan Aksorn Thai Language School). Although New Year Day is officially changed to 1st January in 1940, Songkran is tradition and still celebrates as ritual cleansing using water. This celebration has also become famous for the water fighting now, especially in young generations. In 2023, Songkran is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO). As a traditional New Year celebration, it takes the form of religious ceremonies as well as public festivities. According to Jaikumar, “Merit-making ceremonies are held at Buddhist temples, water is sprinkled on Buddhist images, and captive birds and fish are freed. Water-splashing on the streets is also a part of the festivities, especially among young people.” The details of the religious ceremony from Crump are, “People clean their house, temples, public space, and official buildings, and buy new clothes before Maha Songkran Day on April 13. On Maha Songkran Day, people visit to local temples wearing new clothes and present their offering to Buddhist monks, and after the ritual acts to honor the family ancestors begin.”  When I visited to Thailand, the temples were beautiful; many flowers were blooming, and the nice-smelling incense was burning. Although it was not Songkran, some of local people visited and prayed, so I think the family ancestors are important for Thai people. Water fights are another essential part of the Songkran festival. People go to rivers, lakes, and pools to splash and play in the water, also in town (Baan Aksorn Thai Language School). “This event is not only for people cool down from April’s high temperature, but also derives from the ritual bathing ceremonies which symbolize washing away bad luck,” (Crump).  When I read about it, I remembered Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. The river was closely connected to the local people, like floating market and transportation essential, but it seemed not clean. So, I think it might not be good to play in the river, but I want to see how people enjoy it in.

There are many similarities and differences between Oshogatsu and Songkran. We celebrate the New Year in a traditional way although we celebrate it on different days. I think this similarity came from both countries that have long histories. As tradition, both we prepare things like cleaning the house, decorating, cooking special dishes before New Year, and on the day, we visit religious facilities such as shrines or temples praying for fortune and health. However, the original meaning is a little bit different: Japanese people are welcoming one of the gods, Thai people are showing respect for their ancestors. I think this difference comes because it is originated from Shinto event in Japan but Buddhist event in Thailand.

Both countries have similar special dishes that have the same meaning although eating time is different: Japanese people eat Toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodle) in the night of day before New Year, Thai people eat Kang nguan (glass noodle soup) in New Year (Wright-St Clair). Those are the same symbols of long life because both noodles are long. I had no idea that there was another country where people eat noodles with the same meaning as New Year celebration. There are some special dishes in Songkran like Japanese New Year. According to Wright-St Clair, “not only Kang nguan (glass noodle soup), but also Kang hang lae (Northern Thai curry) and khanom jok (a dessert) are, and in every house the food is the same. Jok is a symbolic meaning of togetherness or wrap together, so family members make it together. Each food has many steps, so people need to help each other.” Songkran is also the time to unite family members, so ‘cooking with’ is the symbol of it (Wright-St Clair). From this, I think that family is important for Thai people again.

The biggest differences are that Japanese New Year is still for the people who live in Japan, on the other hand, Thai New Year is becoming the event that attracts tourists. Although it came from Buddhist ceremony which means washing away bad lucks, Songkran water fighting is a famous event for tourists too. There are many tourisms information sites in English, and they mention that we should prepare to get wet and have a fun. Although the style has changed little by little, people have continued to cherish this tradition in both Japan and Thailand because New Year celebrations have been ingrained in their life for many years, and it is still the important time family/relatives gather, and many people look forward to it. I hope both countries continue to celebrate New Year in tradition.

Through this essay, I realized New Year celebration is not only culture, but also one of establishing my identities. I also reconfirmed the importance of preserving tradition, want to be known Japanese culture/tradition my children. The good memories make people warm and happy. In addition, I found many interesting information about Thailand, not only New Year celebration, and I love more there. When people know/learn the other culture, not only the knowledge increases, but also the understanding/respect to them increase. If many people do so, the world might be more peaceful. Try to talk to other cultural people, you might make a new discovery.

Work Cited

Bownas, Geoffrey, and Pauline Brown. “Japanese Rainmaking and Other Folk Practices”, Taylor & Francis Group, 2004. ProQuest Ebook Central,

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lwtclearningcommons- ebooks/detail.action?docID=1474592.

Crump, William D.. Encyclopedia of New Year’s Holidays Worldwide, McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central,  https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lwtclearningcommons-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3563986.

Jaikumar, Pearline, editor. “Oshogatsu (New Year’s Day).” Holidays Around the World, 6th ed.,

Omnigraphics, Inc., 2018. Credo Reference,  https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6MzkxNTk=?aid=18199.

Jaikumar, Pearline, editor. “Songkran.” Holidays Around the World, 6th ed., Omnigraphics, Inc.,
Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6Mzg4MzY=?aid=18199.

Wright-St Clair, Valerie A., et al. “Cross-Cultural Understandings of Festival Food-Related

Activities for Older Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Eastern Kentucky, USA and Auckland, New Zealand.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, vol. 28, no. 2, 2013, pp. 103–19, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-013-9194-5.

“Songkran in Thailand, traditional Thai New Year festival”, UNESCO, https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/songkran-in-thailand-traditional-thai-new-year-festival-01719

“What is Japanese New Year? Explaining traditional foods, their origins and how to spend time!”, LIGHTBOAT, 21 Dec. 2022, https://lightboat.lightworks.co.jp/article/new-year-in-japan

“What is the Songkran festival in Thailand and its history?”, Baan Aksorn Thai Language School, 12 Apr. 2022, https://www.baanaksorn.com/what-is-the-songkran-festival-in-thailand/