LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Japanese New Year: Beginning
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Mochi is ... made into a New Year's decoration called kagami mochi (kagami mochi), formed from two round cakes of mochi with a bitter orange (daidai) placed on top. The name daidai is supposed to be auspicious since it means "several generations."
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It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. (... as explained below, cleaning the house after New Year's Day is frowned upon)
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PM TOKYO, Jan. 3-(Kyodo), Some one-third of 110 major Japanese companies expect Japan's economy to reach a turning point in its longest postwar economic expansion this year, a Kyodo News poll showed Wednesday. While 72 of the 110 firms expect the
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Kakizome takes place on the second day of the new year. Individually or in groups, people all across Japan get down on their hands and knees to write the first calligraphy of the year. Wikipedia says something like you're supposed to draw water from the well to add to the ink.
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Because of mochi's extremely sticky texture, there are many deaths by choking on New Year in Japan, particularly in the elderly population. The death toll is reported in newspaper publications the day after New Year.
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It was only the second time that the area's Japanese cultural and business groups had come together for New Year's. This year, Tsuguyosi "Rocky" Iwashima, president of the Nippon Club of Triangle, strove to incorporate a rich mix of Japanese customs.
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