New Yearfs Eve/New Yearfs Day 2023

Hi all,

I am planning to be in Tokyo with my boyfriend during NYE/NY Day 2023. Ifve just read that Tokyo Disney has cancelled their NYE Firework Show and so has Shibuya. I am wondering what are other fireworks show for NYE and what is there generally to do for New Years Day 2023?

TIA!

Fireworks arenft a thing in winter in Japan. They are to be enjoyed in summer.

New Year is a quiet time people spend with their families and then head to a shrine (preferrably early in the morning for sunrise).

In Tokyo shops and restaurants will be open (not all but many). But in other regions you might find a lot closed. Also check any sightseeing spots if they are open in the days around NY

NYE fireworks and countdowns are something quite new to Japan. Originally, the Japanese enjoyed fireworks only in summer.

Traditionally, YE/NE in Japan is considered as something more sacred and quiet. Most if not all shrines and temples would welcome worshippers all through the night on Dec 31. Anyone would be free to queue, throw in a few coins and give a prayer for the year to come, whatever you place your faith on.

At Buddist temples, big bells would start ringing from midnight for about half an hour. (Temples accept worshippers to hit their bells, but it's so popular that you hardly get to book.) At seaports, ships blow their whistles at midnight, so here in the port city of Yokohama, you get to hear a lot of sounds if you stand on a hill when the clock hits twelve.

Once it's 2023, most if not all shrines would welcome worshippers all through the day, with some showing religious outdoor performances until Jan 3.

This is about the only time of the year that you get to see all this worshipping, because I must say that the Japanese are generally not religious. If you go to big shrines on New Years, you'd get a better chance to see young women in decorative formal kimono, but I always like to avoid the crowd and go to the smaller shrines in residential areas. You still get to see a lot of tradition, and buy your lucky charm and fortune slip.

For good fortune, you are to eat soba noodles at the end of the year, so that you could live on a fine modest line for a lengthy amount of time. It's a shame that most hotels don't serve much traditional New Year dishes, but you may be able to see a few of them at your breakfast buffet.

Although not held in Tokyo, a countdown fireworks display is held at Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki.
https://www.huistenbosch.co.jp/event/countdown/
Moji Port in Fukuoka Prefecture and Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture may also be held. (not very large scale)
If it's Christmas, fireworks will go up in Odaiba.
https://www.tokyo-odaiba.net/rainbow2022/
In general, they eat toshikoshi soba, go to Hatsumode, watch the first sunrise of the year, buy lucky bags(fuku-bukuro), and eat osechi dishes.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2064.html
Countdown events may take place in Roppongi clubs and hotel lounges.
https://www.tokyo.grand.hyatt.co.jp/en/restaurants/recommended/countdo...
(I've never been to a club in Roppongi, so I'm not sure about the security situation.)
There are shops that are open from January 1st, so it might be a good idea to go shopping there.
No information has been released yet, but I think LaLaport will open.
Omotesando Hills was also open this New Year, so I think it will be open.
Meiji Jingu has the largest number of Hatsumode worshipers in Japan, so restaurants will probably open around that area.
The information below is still in 2022, but it will change to 2023 information within a month.
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/restaurants-open-on-new-year...
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/new-years-eve-in-tokyo

While some firework events take place in autumn or early winter,
New Year firework shows are mostly uncommon in my country Japan, I think.

- Japan Guide: Visiting Japan during New Year
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html

Uco:
> I always like to avoid the crowd and go to the smaller shrines in residential areas.

I feel I understand....
In some past years, avoiding the crowd, I on a later day in January paid my year's first shrine / temple visit.

At Shinto shrines, we clap our hands; at Buddhist temples, we don't.
Even we Japanese people may sometimes confuse them.

Uco:
> At Buddist temples, big bells would start ringing from midnight for about half an hour.

The bells start ringing from before midnight, don't they?

I have watched many times the NHK TV program
("Yuku-toshi Kuru-toshi": Year to go, year to come)
stating just before midnight with some scenes of Joya-no-kane ringing.

At a quiet place near a large Buddhist temple, weather permitting,
you might hear "Joya-no-kane" bell ringing.

Joya-no-kane rings typically 108 times.

The bells start ringing from before midnight, don't they?

To be precise, yes.