How does Japan mark New Year?
元日・お正月
- Local date
- January 1, 2027–January 3, 2027
Japan's new year is 1 January, the national holiday Ganjitsu, whose stated purpose in the Cabinet Office text is a single line: to celebrate the beginning of the year. In practice it is the heaviest season of the year — year-end travel home, the first shrine visit, osechi food and new-year cards all cluster into these days. Japan moved to the Gregorian calendar after the Meiji era, and the lunar new year stopped being the main festival in most regions; that is the sharpest fork between Japan and its neighbours here.
What is this topic?
'New Year' is not one day. Taiwan and mainland China keep the first day of the first lunar month; Japan, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia take 1 January; and India's national holiday list contains no 1 January at all — there the new year falls in March or April and carries a different name in each state. This page compares which day each place treats as the beginning, and how many days off follow.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.