Housewarming or welcome wishes and blessings

Dear all!

When people move into a new home, in some countries they usually receive wishes by their friends, relatives... So I have two main questions and a few little ones related to these:

- How common is this in Japan?
How do people (friends, relatives, neighboursc) congratulate the owners/inhabitants of their new home? Do they receive gifts?

- Do you know any nice blessings/wishes in Japanese or may you suggest websites where these kinds of wishes are written in kanji, hiragana, but also in romaji with English translation?
It does not have to be spiritual, as an example I found phrases in another language, but it says that it is originally Japanese, e.g. gA new home, a new personh (It seems that the meaning is something like a new place turns its inhabitant into a person with new qualities) or gLuck prefers to enter a house where good mood reignsh (I like this one, though in English it sounds a little bit odd). So do you know the Japanese goriginalh version of this saying.

I know that in a traditional Japanese home there might be a blessing on the scroll in the tokonoma. But usually they are short (unless it is a Haiku, which does not necessarily include a blessing/wish), something like "protection", "luck" etc.

Thank you!

uHow do people (friends, relatives, neighboursc) congratulate the owners/inhabitants of their new home? Do they receive gifts?v

In my experience, it's not that common for someone moving into a new home to receive gifts from friends or relatives. Japanese people don't entertain in the home very often, so your friends and relatives are unlikely to come over for a housewarming party, which is ordinarily when housewarming gifts would be given in other countries. There's also the fact that the kinds of gifts often given for housewarmings in other countries (interior decorations, plants, housewares) tend to take up a lot of space, but Japanese homes are pretty small.

Neighbors, as far as I know, never GIVE housewarming gifts to someone new who moves into the neighborhood in Japan. The opposite happens, though. If you move into a new place, you're supposed to give a gift to the people living next door, and extra-polite people will do the same for the people living above and below them if they're moving into a multi-story apartment. The gift doesn't have to be anything really expensive - some nice candies or cookies or something like that is fine. But it's a way to introduce yourself to the people you'll be living adjacent to, and also a way to apologize in advance for any noise while you're moving and settling in.

u in a traditional Japanese home there might be a blessing on the scroll in the tokonomav

In houses with tokonoma, the scroll tends to be chosen for its aesthetic qualities rather than any sort of blessing. But then again, very few modern homes have a tokonoma.

- How common is this in Japan?

Well, in my experience, this is very common, and it is called "hikkoshi-iwai". But it's not common among neighbors. When you move into a new place, you are the one who is supposed to ring neighbors' door bells to introduce yourself along with a small gift such as a hand towel or sweets.

If you're a young single person simply renting a temporary apartment or something, you may not even greet your neighbors in the way I just mentioned. And if you're not throwing any housewarming parties, even friends and relatives may not bother to give you gifts.

It's when you start living in a place you consider your "new home" that gifts start to come in. Relatives may give you gift money instead of items. As for friends, it's more typical for them to give you gifts only when you invite them to a housewarming party. Instead of the usual consumables, your friends may bring along something to decorate your new home, such as dishes, potted plants or things to hang on your wall. But since people nowadays are picky, it's considered best for the giver to ask the home owner in advance. By the way, unlike relatives, friends don't give gift money for housewarming.

- Do you know any nice blessings/wishes in Japanese or may you suggest websites where these kinds of wishes are written in kanji, hiragana, but also in romaji with English translation?

Not really. The Japanese don't even commonly use gift cards. They just bring the gift and say "o-hikkoshi omedetou (Congratulations on your moving in)". People who are into calligraphy or poetry may have some favorite phrases of their own for any occasion, but blessings and wishes aren't common when it comes to housewarming.

So do you know the Japanese goriginalh version of this saying.

I tried, but I'm afraid nothing came to my mind.

Thanks you two for your long answers. It seems that this topic is not a matter of broad interest... Your answers show this too. Some people present gifts, others not...

This remark is not directly related to welcome wishes, but I wonder about these quotes I often see...
There are sayings like I mentioned above, or very often Konfuzius (He was not japanese, I know) is used for these "proverbs".
First there is the translated quote, then the info "wisdom of Konfuzius" and sometimes it is accompanied by a picture of bamboo, some flat stones in water, a tori or a lotus flower....
If you google japanese proverbs in combination with wall, decoration... you will find plenty of these... In other countries (not Japan?) people tend to decorate their apartments with these, often phrases which are about life, how to pursue happiness etc. ...

Questions:
So is it a global phenomenon that people decorate their homes with quotes, preferably of a foreign origin? Do japanese people like to have- letLs say quotes in English languages of on their wall (maybe with London bus picture or clover) which are liike Live. Laugh. etc. ...?

Greetings!

Do japanese people like to have- letLs say quotes in English languages of on their wall

In my experience of visiting homes of neighbors, colleagues, friends and relatives, not necessarily. I used to live in the U.S. where it's not uncommon for residents to put "Home Sweet Home" on their walls, but I can't think of a similar situation in Japan be it a foreign quote or domestic.

But some Japanese people do like to decorate their walls with some kind of poetic phrases or kanji calligraphy, although they are not necessarily about their home. More often, it is about the way they prefer to live their lives. Maybe like the letter œ meaning "sincerity", or they'd decorate poems and calligraphy that their children have done at school.

I did Google "Japanese proverbs" in combination with "wall, decoration" and noticed that a lot of them are along that line instead of about home. Others were either phony or too non-Japanese sounding to me. I Googled similar keywords in Japanese language, and the results were, again, more about how you live your life rather than your home.

So is it a global phenomenon that people decorate their homes with quotes, preferably of a foreign origin?

I donft think it is a global phenomenon at all. I can speak to Germany, Spain , Italy and the Netherlands, countries where I have lived and have visited friends and relatives houses as well, and I donft remember any house/apartment where anything was written on the walls. With the sole exception of our own apartment in Madrid which had a corridor so long , that as decoration , I wrote and entire paragraph of a Brecht poem along the wall. (https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/die-nachgeborenen-740 )

LikeBike, that's awesome! Wish I knew what it means. DeepL automatic translation suggests it's appropriate to the world we're facing now.

@Uco thanks for your interest in the poem. Here an English translation:

https://harpers.org/2008/01/brecht-to-those-who-follow-in-our-wake/

It is based on the experience of Nazi German. I didnft consider so far that it could be seen as contemporaneous, but you are right. There are some tendencies again for racism and total lack of respect towards people with different opinions and political background, so yes, probably it can be applied to current politics as well.

To OP it is definitely not a warm welcoming word or a Konfuzius like aphorism.

Thanks, LikeBike!

@Uco thanks for your interest in the poem. Here an English translation:

https://harpers.org/2008/01/brecht-to-those-who-follow-in-our-wake/

It is based on the experience of Nazi German. I didnft consider so far that it could be seen as contemporaneous, but you are right. There are some tendencies again for racism and total lack of respect towards people with different opinions and political background, so yes, probably it can be applied to current politics as well.

To OP it is definitely not a warm welcoming word or a Konfuzius like aphorism.

Thanks for the translation, LikeBike!