New Years in Japan has many similarities to the western Christmas.  New Years is a time to be with your family and the whole country pretty much shuts down so everyone can return to their hometown for the 3 or 4 national holidays surrounding New Years. 

Here is a simple custom comparison to give you an idea of what goes on around here at New Years.

Many Canadians go to church on Christmas; Japanese visit Buddhist temples on New Years Eve (and day) to ring the watch night bell and say prayers to welcome in the new year.  Shinto shrines are also visited on New Years Eve.  

Canadians send Christmas cards; Japanese send New Years postcards.  Everyone looks forward to their cards arriving on New Years and hearing from people they haven't heard from for a while.  Also, if cards show up from people they forgot to send one to you have a few days grace to send them one.  The cards themselves have a lottery number on the back for a January lottery held by the post office.  I have yet to win anything but maybe this is our lucky year!

Canadians put up Christmas decorations; Japanese put up New Years decorations.  The decorations are placed around the house and on cars for blessing.  The temples and shrines are decorated extravagantly in preparation for the abundance of visitors over the holidays.  Of course people also buy fortunes and throw money into the prayer box when they make a prayer.  On the news they said that it would take two days to count all the cash.  I never watched two days later to find out how much was collected. 

Canadians have turkey and traditional food; Japanese have a big fish (about the same price as a big turkey) and traditional food called osechi.  One other traditional food is mochi (sweet rice that has been pounded until it is just a chewy blob) which is not only eaten but also used as a decoration at temples.  Mochi is tough to chew and many elderly people die from choking on it every year at New Years (30 this year).

The main similarity is New Years over here is a religious holiday and a time to be spent with family.  Its a nice time and a good opportunity for everyone to get some rest and relaxation before they go at it again for another year.