About "oshougatsu"

I’ll tell about “oshougatsu”. In Japanese, New Year is called “oshougatsu”, and the very first day of the year is called “gantan”.New Year’s Day is a very important day for the Japanese people.There are many events and customs to celebrate New Year’s Day. Some people climb up the mountain before dawn to see the first sunrise of the year. People decorate their houses with special decorations. “Kadomatsu”, two groups of bamboo to place in front of the entrance; “shimenawa”, a sacred straw rope to protect the door; and “kagamimochi, round, piled up rice cakes to appreciate and eat as a token of wellbeing. People send each other New Year’s cards called “nengajyo”.This is usually designed with symbols of good luck or the animal of the year out of the 12 animals in the Chinese astrological calendar. Many people go to shrines to make wishes for the coming year. This event is called “hatsumoude”.