New Year's Pine Decoration (2004-12-29)
New Year is the biggest holiday in Japan and people here spend a lot of time and effort decorating their homes with traditional objects. Kadomatsu (New Year's pine decoration) is one of the things you will see in almost every Japanese house. It signifies giving away the old year and welcoming the new one and it also provides a place for God to come into the house.
It is a decorative piece which uses pine leaves and bamboo adorned with ribbons or other colorful objects. Pine and bamboo carry the meaning of a thousand years and ten thousand generations respectively, therefore they are the basic elements in a kadomatsu set-up for their auspicious connotation. Placing one at home is also believed to ward off ghosts and evil spirits. Kadomatsu is usually put out on 31st and put away on January 28th for specific reason which I won't go into detail here.
We have a kadomatsu and a New Year decorative thing, gifts we
received about three years ago. These decorative things are so
pretty they should be left out all year round, and I do with one of
them. Happy New Year everyday!
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