Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
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Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
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Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#2Last year even though I didn’t have a theme, I made small changes in the way I live, tried to complete my 15 book goodreads challenge, started doing sports and improve myself professionally on my free time.
This year started with pretty fundamental questions in the way I live and uncertainties about my future so deciding on a theme is very difficult. I can’t answer those questions and don’t know what I really want. I will try to put an effort into keeping the good habits I gained last year though.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#3I like this idea of setting a theme. It gives you a compass for if an action is in accordance to the theme or not.
I still like to drill into the concrete quantitative details of how I’m going to achieve the theme though.
This year theme for me would be: Freedom.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#4What was a bit disappointing to me is the author decided to gloss over the parts like getting fresh water from a well and having it purified at the temple.
That's the parts I wanted more details on - it makes it interesting and more like a glance at a foreign and different culture.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#5This is my second year picking a theme and I picked "Revolution", many things are (probably) going to be different 360 days from now for me!
Fun read, it didn't occur to me that I could simply pick foreign words that are much more adept at explaining complex concepts briefly.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#6> couple of years ago, CGP Grey made a point about replacing the New Year resolution with the New Year theme.
Yeah this year (really: mid December when the work year ended for us) we declared it the Year of Discovery. All it really is, is a thing my wife and I say to each other any time we’re humming and hawing on a purchase or decision or uncertainty on what menu item to pick. It’s kind of become a running joke, and yet it’s pretty effective.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#7Few more fun facts:
Elementary school students all write kakizome at the end of December. Within the school, each grade will write the exact same thing. They're hung in the halls for all to see. Hundreds of the exact same kakizome.
Many people burn their kakizome mid-January during "Dondoyaki."
The posture, attention and care taken while writing Kakizome is one of the important points. Those, and the outcome of the characters themselves, are all taken into account.
Unrelated, but Japan's officaily chosen Kanji for the year 2024 was "金" which means gold, or money, or heck, even Friday.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#8What was a bit disappointing to me is the author decided to gloss over the parts like getting fresh water from a well and having it purified at the temple. That's the parts I wanted more details on - it makes it interesting and more like a glance at a foreign and different culture.
Japan does really have a wells that has pure water than is drinkable
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#9The Chinese have a new-year’s calligraphy tradition, too, written on red paper and hung on your door. Of course, that’s done on the Lunar new year, not the Solar one.
Your description of New Year’s as “like Western Christmas” is apt - I remember visiting one year, shocked by how quiet everything was, and how many restaurants and attractions were closed. Everyone was at home with their family! The January First festival at Senso-ji Temple was a unique spectacle, though - the sound of people donating hundreds of one-yen coins at once is really unique.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#10The Chinese have a new-year’s calligraphy tradition, too, written on red paper and hung on your door. Of course, that’s done on the Lunar new year, not the Solar one. Your description of New Year’s as “like Western Christmas” is apt - I remember visiting one year, shocked by how quiet everything was, and how many restaurants and attractions were closed. Everyone was at home with their family! The January First festiv…
That’s because Japanese new year is derived from Chinese (lunar) new year traditions. They moved the New Year’s celebration to align with the Western calendar as part of the Meiji restoration, but kept the festivities the same.