{"id":5564,"date":"2025-12-27T22:18:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T13:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/?p=5564"},"modified":"2025-12-27T22:18:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T13:18:39","slug":"questions-about-shodo-japanese-calligraphy-whats-written-on-the-new-year-decoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/?p=5564","title":{"rendered":"Questions about Shodo, Japanese Calligraphy: What\u2019s Written on the New Year Decoration?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As we prepare to welcome the New Year, you might notice beautiful wreaths hanging on Japanese doorways. These are called <em>Shimekazari<\/em>, and today, I\u2019d like to share the meaning behind the one I created for my home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the center, I brushed the words \u201c\u8b39\u8cc0\u65b0\u5e74 (<em>Kinga Shinnen<\/em>)\u201d in calligraphy. This is a formal New Year\u2019s greeting used in letters and scrolls. It translates to: &#8220;I respectfully offer my joy for the New Year.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the base of the decoration was pre-made, I personally wrote the greeting and pressed my newly carved <em>Hanko<\/em> (seal) to give it a personal touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Meaning Behind the Decorations Each element of the <em>Shimekazari<\/em> carries a special wish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Rice Straw Wreath:<\/strong> Like the sacred ropes (<em>Shimenawa<\/em>) seen at shrines, this marks the entrance as a &#8220;sacred space&#8221; to welcome the deities of the New Year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Folding Fan:<\/strong> Its widening shape represents &#8220;<em>Suehirogari<\/em>,&#8221; symbolizing prosperity and a flourishing future.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Crane:<\/strong> A symbol of longevity, as it was believed cranes live for a thousand years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Mizuhiki<\/em> (Decorative Cords):<\/strong> These knots symbolize the strengthening of bonds between people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Zigzag Paper:<\/strong> These represent the paper streamers used by Shinto priests during purification rituals to ward off impurities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Personal Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, my entire family\u2014eight of us in total, including my parents, sister&#8217;s family, and my own\u2014gathered at a shrine to celebrate my 3-year-old niece\u2019s <em>Shichi-Go-San<\/em> (a rite of passage for children). During the prayer, the priest waved a wooden wand with these zigzag papers over our heads to purify us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the ones at the shrine are pure white, the paper on my New Year decoration is adorned with gold and red to suit the festive season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Year-End Greetings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we approach the end of the year, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your continued patronage and support. It has been a wonderful year, and I am so grateful for the connections we have made through the art of calligraphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with laughter and joy alongside your family and friends. Wishing you a peaceful year-end and a very Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we prepare to welcome the New Year, you might notice&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[37,39,33,68,38],"class_list":["post-5564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-tips","tag-calligraphy","tag-culturalexperience","tag-japanese","tag-newyeardecolation","tag-tokyo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5566,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5564\/revisions\/5566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oh-mama.tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}