Kadomatsu vs Zero Waste

On the 7th day of January, Japanese people end a week-long new year celebration. People will go back to school and work. According to the old Japanese customs, people call the day the Festival of Seven Herbs (Japanese 七草の節句 Nanakusa-no-sekku). They eat rice porridge with seven herbs called 七草粥 (Nanakusa-gayu) for breakfast. It heals the body tired of having (Christmas, end of the year, New Year) drinking parties. After the holiday season, this simple meal is very welcome.

Simultaneously, we take off all festive decors. Look at this wreath! It is one of my mum's works for this year. But sadly this also had to go... What a waste!

In Japan, those new year decorations are considered to be sacred as to welcome a god of New Year (Japanese 年神様/Toshigamisama). (Very superstitious, aren't they?) For this reason, they have to bring all the decorations including the lucky charms and annual gifts from the previous year to a local shrine to burn them, usually on the 15th. This event is called Otakiage (Japanese 御炊き上げ) or Dondo-yaki...it depends on the region. It is a Shinto ritual, a way of showing respect and appreciation. These items brought them good health, luck, wealth, love... It is time to thank Toshigamisama for the passed year and for the new year too. It is no good to reuse such blessed items. Japanese people chuck these away. Unlike Christmas decorations, they cannot keep them for another year. I thought it was wasteful. What happens to their Mottainai philosophy (Japanese もったいない: a Japanese expression to show a sense of regret for wasting good resources)??!?!

Old traditions/cultural habits versus sustainability...

But good news! Cultures are always changing. Of course, they still remove the decorations once they had that porridge brekky. Instead of burning them all with the sacred bonfire and prepare new ones every single year, they cleanse the decor with Sake. Rice and salt - the two necessities in life together become the purest sacred water.

Don't get too wasted!