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Japanese New Year: Families
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Japanese families then gather home to watch the Kohaku uta gassen, Red and White Song Festival on NHK, or New Year's concert from Vienna. Record Awards Show is ... popular program in New Year.
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On New Year's Day, the family starts the New Year with a "mochi" or rice cake breakfast. The rice cake is served in a stew called "Ozoni." Rice pounding to make mochi rice cakes is a popular new year activity. However, many modern Japanese families buy them from supermarkets now.
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Across Asia, the new year is celebrated on different days and in different ways. The central activities... always focus on family and community gatherings, remembering ancestors, and wishes for health, good fortune, and happiness. Celebrate the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Dog at PEM on January 22, February 11 and 12 with artist demonstrations, gallery tours, studio workshops, lion dances, and more!
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On New Years Eve, it is customary to eat toshi-koshi soba which is buckwheat noodles in broth - the noodles representing best wishes for a long-life. Most families gather around the television and watch special New Years Eve variety shows featuring popular singers and entertainers. Then at midnight, temple bells are rung 108 times in a Buddhist tradition called Juya no Kane meant to drive away evil spirits and to welcome the New Year with a pure heart.
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January 1 is New Year's Day, a national holiday and one of the biggest events on the calendar of annual festivities in Japan. Schools close for about two weeks of winter holiday before and after New Year's, and most companies ... shut down for New Year break from around December 30 to January 3. Many people who've moved to big cities return home for the holidays to be with family and friends.
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A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish. In some areas, fish (simplified Chinese:
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