The New Year holiday is the major celebration on the Japanese calendar. Unlike the Chinese, who celebrate the Lunar New Year, Japan adopted the western calendar thru-and-thru, and so on January 1st, the nation virtually shuts down for two or three days. Families may visit a Shinto shrine, perhaps, but most people hang out with their family and friends, and enjoy various traditional foods. Sake is often involved. New Year's Eve sees the most popular television program of the year broadcast: The "Red-White Singing Contest", with two teams, representing Eastern Japan and Western Japan, competing to see who can sing best. Lavish production numbers are the norm, and the most popular singers consider it essential to be invited. The show is broadcast on NHK, the Japanese version of the BBC, and when I lived in Japan roughly 70 percent of the population watched it at home with their family. It was a chance for Granny to talk with the kids about the latest in pop culture, in many...(Read Full Post)