It's September 9, Wednesday in Raimon Jr. High. The soccer club has just finished practicing when Tenma suddenly asks a question.
"Minna-san, does any of you know some of the traditions that we do every New Year's Day?" he asked. "Why, Tenma? Is isn't even Christmas yet." Hamano said. "Hai, but Hamano-senpai, our history teacher gave us an assignment; we have to ask other people what New Year traditions do we have and we have to share them in class." Shinsuke said. "Right now I can't think of anything but eating gyoza (dumplings) and other special foods." The rest of the team just sweatdropped. "But seriously. I don't think there are many New Year traditions at all aside from eating and visiting shrines." Hikaru said.
"Oh, there are quite a lot, Hikaru. For example, the tradition of oosouji, or cleaning our whole houses. I remember last year we had to move the fridge and vacuum under there as well." Midori said. "Vacuuming under the fridge? Wow, that must be hard." "Of course it was, Kariya." Midori replied.
"She's right. There really are a lot of traditions, such as fukubukuro, where shops sell bags to people for certain prices without the people knowing what's inside. That's the scary part, if you buy one for a high price and then finding out you just wasted your money." Akane said.
"My mom always makes me go to different stores every New Year to buy bags like that. I remember once I bought a bag and opened it to find a kitten. It's our pet now, actually." Hayami said. "Really? So that's the reason why so many people line up in and out shops every New Year, aside from the sales..." said Shinsuke.
"There's also the hastushinode, where we wake up early to see the very first sunrise of the year. My mom always makes it a point to wake the whole family up early so we can see the sunrise." said Ichino.
"Then there's also the ringing of the bonsho, where the temple bells 108 times to drive away the evils of last year. And they ring them loudly, I can hear them from my bedroom every New Year." Aoyama said.
"Also the tradition of sending nenga, or greeting cards to other family members and friends. I remember last year, my mother received 101 nenga cards from family, friends, and even her boss. She spent the whole night writing replies back." Amagi said. "E-eh!? 101!?"
Tsurugi added, "Aside from those, Japan still has kadomatsu, or the tradition of putting pine, bamboo, or plum tree decorations in front of houses and offices right after Christmas until January 7 to usher the deities in and bring good fortune inside. Last year, my mom bought entire trees to fill our house with good fortune - but instead it was filled with smells of the forest and lots of chaos trying to fit them all inside." "Entire trees!? You're sure, Tsurugi that she bought three fully-grown trees in your house?" Shindou said. He just nodded his head silently, recalling last year's celebration.