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The
2007 Japanese New Year Celebration
9th Annual Oshogatsu in Little Tokyo
Monday, January 1, 2007
Come and enjoy the Japanese traditions of celebrating New Years.
 The
Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California (JCCSC) will
hold its traditional New Years festivities, “Oshogatsu in Little
Tokyo” on January 1, 2007 (Monday). This “Oshogatsu in Little
Tokyo” offers the atmosphere of a Japanese New Years celebration
here in Los Angeles so that more people can experience it. The
purpose has been to introduce traditional Japanese culture to many
more people in order to inculcate understanding between Japan and
America ever since the first event was held in 1999.
Since the first year, the venue has
centered around Weller Court, the New Otani Hotel & Garden and Japanese
Village Plaza, where a great variety of traditional Japanese New Years
events such as the lion dance, taiko drumming, koto performances, kimono
shows and martial arts demonstrations will be performed. Last year
12,000 people attended, the most in the event’s history.
Again this year, the main stage will be
erected in Weller Court, and for the opening ceremony the Japanese
Consulate has invited 15 groups to demonstrate traditional Japanese
arts, such as the Zen taiko performance and the sake cask opening,
followed by koto performances, calligraphy and martial arts shows.
Very popular last year were booth
offering yakisoba fried noodles and Japanese craft accessories, and so
this year 20 stores will set up stalls. Adjoining Weller Court is
Onizuka Street, where every year the traditional mochi-tsuki pounding of
rice cake is conducted with spectators joining in to help make the fresh
mochi.
In addition, the first 200 children
arriving in Weller Court will be given Japanese pastry.
At the New Otani Hotel & Garden, events
are planned, starting on December 31, New Years Eve, through New Years
Day. At the Azalea Restaurant on the first floor, starting at 10:00 pm,
there will be s New Year’s Eve Dance Party held, featuring a dance,
toshi-koshi soba noodles, which are eaten in the hopes of long life, and
following the countdown, champagne to celebrate the New Year ($35 per
person).
 Starting
at 7:00 am on January 1, otoso spicy sake will be served free of charge.
On the third floor Garden Level at the Thousand Cranes Restaurant, its
noted New Year’s Osechi Buffet ($48 per person) will be offered from
10:00 am to 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Traditional Japanese osechi
cuisine will be arrayed with more than 30 varieties of foods.
From 12:00 pm, on the second floor of the
hotel, in the banquet rooms and lobby, there will be a children’s karuta
card-matching tournament, a go game tournament, a calligraphy
demonstration given by Ikuta Kanshu, a New Years tea ceremony, a kimono
dressing room, and origami paper folding demonstration among other
events. These are planned as pastimes typically enjoyed in Japan on New
Years Day.
In Japanese Village Plaza, it has been
arranged for food booths and vendors offering Japanese crafts such as
ceramics to be set up. On the special stage in front of Nijiya Market,
starting in mid-morning there wi;ll be mochi rice cake pounding, a lion
dance, martial arts demonstrations, a karaoke contest, a cosplay show
and other events held until sundown.
Finally, at six temples in the area,
Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, Jodoshu North America Buddhist
Mission, Koyasan Buddhist Temple, Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple,
Nichiren Buddhist Temple and Zenshuji Soto Mission, under the auspices
of the Los Angeles Buddhist Church Federation Event, will be conducting
traditional services.
On January 1st, there will be a rare
opportunity to come into contact with Japanese culture, so it is hoped
that as many people as possible join in the activities. |
