Crowd of people walking and standing in front of a large traditional Japanese shrine on a sunny day, celebrating New Year's Day with the first shrine visit (hatsumode) in Japan in January. The path is lined with colorful Japanese decorations, including daruma dolls and a maneki-neko.

January in Japan: Festivals, Traditions and Seasonal Highlights

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Japan in January is full of fresh starts, fun traditions and frosty scenery!

January is one of the most important times of the year for Japanese culture, with an array of nationwide and local celebrations to bring in the New Year.

Whether you’re planning a winter trip or just want to enjoy a little Japanese culture at home, here’s what January in Japan has to offer:

Table Of Contents
  1. Japanese festivals and events in January
  2. Things to do in Japan in January
  3. Japanese activities to try at home in January
  4. Useful Japanese vocabulary for January
  5. Related posts
  6. Want to learn Japanese this New Year?

Japanese festivals and events in January

Shōgatsu

Shōgatsu is Japan’s New Year season and the biggest celebration of the year!

New Year is a family time in Japan. January 1 is a national holiday, but most people have a few days off work between around the 29th December and the 3rd January. Many return to their hometowns to visit family.

Many people visit shrines to pray for good luck, eat traditional osechi dishes and send nengajō (New Year postcards).

Crowd of people walking and standing in front of a large traditional Japanese shrine on a sunny day, celebrating New Year's Day with the first shrine visit (hatsumode) in Japan in January.
New Year’s crowds at Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji Temple in Kanagawa

The first visit to a shrine or temple in the new year is called hatsumōde. It’s common to buy a paper fortune slip called omikuji to see what the new year might have in store for you.

a hand holds a slip of paper with writing in Japanese. The paper is a omikuji, a Japanese fortune paper available at shrines.
Omikuji, a fortune paper that you can pick up at a Japanese shrine to find out if you’ll be lucky over the coming year

🎍Read more: New Year in Japan: Traditions, Food and Celebrations

Coming of Age Day (Seijin no Hi)

Held on the second Monday of January, Seijin no Hi celebrates all young people who have reached the age of maturity in the past year.

Traditionally the age of maturity was 20, but in 2022 the Japanese government officially lowered this to 18. However, many municipalities still celebrate 20-year-olds on thi