New Year in Japan (Oshogatsu): What Closes and Where to Go

Oshogatsu, the Japanese New Year, is the most important holiday in the year — and roughly 29 December to 3 January is the one stretch when the country genuinely closes. Independent restaurants, small shops, museums and clinics shut, while convenience stores, chain restaurants and the trains run throughout. It is spent with family, at home and at a shrine rather than in a bar, and hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year, draws crowds no other day approaches.

What closes over New Year, and for how long?

The country slows from roughly 29 December to 3 January. Independent restaurants, small shops, museums, clinics and every government office shut, often with a handwritten notice and no reopening date. Some family-run places close for a full week. What stays open is the convenience stores, the chain restaurants, the department stores from 2 January, and the trains — several major lines run through the night on 31 December so people can reach a shrine at midnight.

This is worth planning around rather than worrying about. The cities are quiet, the winter light is clear, and the usual queues at the major sights thin out. The winter illuminations run straight through the holiday, so the evenings stay bright even while the museums are shut. But arrive with somewhere to eat in mind, because working that out at 8pm on 1 January in a small town is genuinely difficult.

What is hatsumode, the first shrine visit?

The first shrine or temple visit of the year draws crowds no other day approaches. Meiji Jingu in Tokyo takes around three million visitors across the first three days; Senso-ji, Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto and Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka are all on a similar scale. On 1 January the queue to reach the offertory box at a major shrine is measured in hours, and the approach is lined with food stalls to absorb the wait.

The workaround is simple: go on 2 or 3 January instead, or pick a neighbourhood shrine. The ritual is identical — a coin, a bow, a wish for the year — and a local shrine gives you the whole of the atmosphere without the crush.

What else happens over the New Year period?

Joya no kane

31 December, late evening. Temple bells are struck 108 times to see the year out; Chion-in in Kyoto and Zojo-ji in Tokyo are among the best known.

Hatsuhinode

Dawn on 1 January. Watching the year’s first sunrise is a tradition in its own right, and coastal spots and observation decks fill for it.

Fukubukuro

From 1 or 2 January. Department stores sell sealed “lucky bags” of discounted stock, and the New Year sales are the deepest of the year.

The Imperial Palace

2 January. The inner grounds open to the public, one of only two days a year, for an appearance by the imperial family.

Dondo-yaki

Mid-January, and regional. Last year’s charms, talismans and New Year decorations are stacked onto a bamboo pyre, daruma dolls mounted on the poles, and burnt together to send them back where they came from. Called sagicho in some areas.

What do people eat at New Year in Japan?

Toshikoshi soba on New Year’s Eve, for a clean crossing into the new year. Then osechi ryori: preserved dishes arranged in stacked lacquer boxes, each carrying a meaning, designed to be made in advance so that nobody cooks over the holiday. Ozoni, a broth with mochi in it, is the New Year’s morning dish. The annual public-health warnings about mochi are not a joke — it is dense and sticky, so cut it small.

How far ahead should you book for New Year?

This is the busiest domestic travel week of the Japanese year, and it books out early. Accommodation and long-distance transport want settling months ahead, shinkansen reservations especially, since unreserved carriages over the holiday are standing-room; our pre-trip checklist covers the rest of what wants settling before you fly. Dates for individual temple and shrine events shift slightly year to year — the JNTO events guide is the most reliable English source to confirm against.