Since moving to Osaka in 2001, this New Year’s was only the second time we had spent it here in Japan. In the past we had either gone back to the States or other countries. The first year, 2001, was because we didn’t have enough money. This year was because Rie was too sick to go anywhere (and we didn’t have enough money). New Year’s Eve in Japan is very quiet compared to other parts of the world. Almost everyone spends it at home with their families, often going to a temple at midnight (hatsumode) to offer prayers and wishes for the coming year.
The New Year’s holiday is quickly becoming my favorite time in Japan for one reason: the television. Japanese television is famous around the world for its strangeness and outrageousness, but on the last day and first day of the year, they go all out. In the afternoon, we watched a four-hour show where they place different teams of people on deserted islands and force them to fend for themselves (ala “Survivor”). This really wasn’t my favorite show because:
1). I didn’t understand most of what they said, although the hunting and fishing for food was pretty cool
2). The Japanese humor is still lost on me, even after living here for so long. I understand why Japanese think it’s funny, but I just don’t get it.
3). I doubt the reliability of many of the shows here. I’m not sure how much of the show is influenced by the production team.
Even so, it still made for some passable viewing. My personal favorite came on at 9:00. “Downtown” is comedy duo from here in Kansai (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto) who, besides having a regular television show, do a special every New Year’s Eve where they and some other members go to a Japanese resort and spend 24 hours there. The only catch is, if they laugh even a little, then guys dressed as ninjas come in and whack them on the ass with a leather strap…hard. The production team sets up situations where other comedians enter and do something that will make them laugh. It is incredible, and anyone back home who I’ve shown it to loves it. So that went until midnight and Rie went to bed. I stayed up drinking my nihon-shu (sake) and surfing the web, then went to bed around 2:00.
This morning, she was feeling better, so we went to the temple for hatsumode and then to a supermarket to buy something for dinner. It was nice to see her feeling better. The past few days have been rough, and she was hardly able to stand up without getting sick. I have decided to augment my blog title to include references to Japanese life, since the pregnancy has yet to offer up much news.
Note: I had taken some pictures at the temple, but am having difficulty cropping them to look good, so I will post them here later.
