The body beautiful: celebrating New Year in Japan

The older I become, the more amazed I am by life’s most natural processes. I think of my body, for example, the awesome vessel my soul inhabits, and am always speechless before its magnificent operations.

Take clotting, for example. It is humbling to think of that life-saving, highly structured, patterned energy that rushes to the fore, bringing a perfect ordering principle in the midst of chaos and disarray. That dark red center of coagulation is so hope filled. It is a perfect coming together of energy to promote the health and well being of the organism. And it carries dimensions of significance far beyond the healing of a wound. To me a clot is one of the body’s mandalas, or as Tagore might say, “a vast, radiant, petalled rose”. (1)

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The Japanese love festivals. They have at least one national one for every month of the year, and a rainbow of local ones scattered hither and yon throughout the country. I love them all, but take particular delight in the simple, close-to-home ones, which carry a tenderness and warmth the larger ones often lack. Even so, the huge celebrations are an experience not to be missed.

Take the one that occurs in mid January every year, for example. It is a very important and unique event called Dontosai, which marks the end of the New Year season. New Years is highly significant in Japan. It reflects a very deep part of the psyche here; one that truly believes life is an ongoing process of new beginnings.

So New Year is not just a time off from work, good food, and joyous days with family and friends. It contains all that, of course, but it also carries tremendous responsibilities. The deepest is the duty to reflect on the year past, to express gratitude, and to make amends where needed. It is a time of paying off debts, of extensive house cleaning, and of finishing projects that need completing.

Viewing the first sunrise over the ocean is a must. And for every Japanese that signifies a fresh, pure beginning and the inner resolve to work diligently with focused attention to stretch for a chosen goal.

Dontosai is a very old Shinto festival. On this occasion people go to shrines with their New Year decorations in order to both bless and burn them. Burning is an act of purification. So, there are huge bonfires into which folks toss their seasonal ornaments. Purification is vitally significant and important at this time. In fact, it is one of the main purposes of the evening’s events. Praying also brings purity. So people go to the altar, which is laden with fruit, vegetables and sake. These are offerings to the gods. And it is here that people wake the slumbering deities to pray for good luck in the year ahead.

What makes this festival particularly eye-catching, however, is that on this dark, piercingly cold winter night, men and women are clothed in only loincloths. The near nudity is symbolic of purity. Also it is a poignant means to strengthen the inner spirit. Participants go out in groups. Entire companies, schools, and other institutional personnel cluster together, braving the elements as an encouraging, unified whole.

Their pattern is predictable. They hold pieces of white paper in their mouths. This is not only to keep their teeth from chattering, but also to force them to keep silent. For Japanese silence expresses the deepest and most accurate truths. And hopefully the participants have purifying thoughts in mind as they walk the city streets in straw sandals, ringing bells, and carrying lanterns. When they arrive at the shrine, they go single file to the altar to be blessed and to receive a much needed, very appreciated cup of sake, elixir from the gods. Then they progress to the bonfire, still carrying their lanterns, still ringing their bells. There they circle round the flames and pitch their decorations into the raging inferno.

Besides those who wish to gain quick merit by going almost nude, well bundled up folks flock to the shrines as well. There are lots of families, circles of friends, and a few old couples. Despite the heaving crowds, they, too, go in an orderly row up to the altar to pray. They clang and rattle enormous bells to awaken the gods, who must be very alert by now with so much commotion going on! Then they bow twice, clap twice, and bow again. From there they beeline to get their fortunes, which are all carefully prepared beforehand on gleaming white slips of paper. One’s fortune is purely by luck, based solely on which paper is drawn. To add to the bubbling sense of orderly disarray, there are food stalls, many of them, and last minute decoration sellers, eager for one final grab at their own material fortune. It is truly a colorful, lively (and freezing) evening.

The energy of this event, as of all Japanese festivals, is really exciting and rather extraordinary. The focused attention and orderliness are surprising considering the huge numbers of participants involved. But then again maybe it is not so surprising. All this is happening in a precision-loving culture. So, the coming together of cohesive energy, flowing in orderly lines is actually the most natural thing in the world.

In fact, the magnificent fluid unity seems to shout out loudly and clearly, “We are Japanese. We are proud of it. We work as a unit. We support one another. No matter how individualistic we are becoming, nothing, nothing is deeper to us than our traditions and culture. They let us know who we are.”

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Dontosai is like blood: eternal life individualized. It is a perfect coming together of energy to promote the health and well being of the community. A mandala clotting. Cohesiveness at its most festive, fascinating, and fun.

(1) Rabindranath Tagore, “The Sick Bed -- 21”