New Year's Celebration
Holidays & Festivals

Originating as an ancient observance during which prayers were offered a year's beginning for abundant crops, the New Year's holiday as it exists in Japan is, like so many other things in the modern nation, part religion and part secular tradition.

Relevance to Maison Ikkoku

Among the many activites in which celebrants traditionally engage during this time of year, dressing up in kimono and visiting a local shrine is an important one, and it's this ritual which Godai and Kyoko end up watching on television in her room.