Cultural differences in celebrating the new year in Japan and Malaysia

1. New Year’s Day

I have experienced some cultural differences as a Japanese living in Malaysia in New Year’s day and Chinese New Year seasons.

Japanese celebrate new year’s day as much as Malaysians celebrate the Chinese new year.

Also, the Japanese don’t celebrate the Chinese new year so much.

However, there are still some similarities in how to celebrate.

So I will explain the difference and my experience in Malaysia this year.

The theme has 2 articles, and I will introduce New Year’s day first.

1. How Japanese celebrate the new year

Before New Year’s Eve, the house is cleaned to welcome the new year.

On New Year’s Eve, people eat soba (buckwheat noodles) and watch TV programs that broadcast performances by J-pop singers.

Some people go to Japanese shrines for Hatsumode at midnight, while others go after the sun rises.

On New Year’s Day and the following days, people cook or buy traditional dishes called Osechi so that they do not have to cook.

During this season, mochi(rice cakes) are decorated and eaten.

The decorations are called Kagamimochi and are eaten after the seventh day of the New Year.

Offices and small stores are closed until January 3, but big shopping malls are open all the time these days.

Some people go back to their hometowns and celebrate with their families.

These days, fewer people return to their hometowns as they do in Malaysia.

Japanese families are becoming more private, and gatherings of relatives are becoming less frequent.

So, as a Japanese, New Year is a big event, but I am surprised that Malaysians do not celebrate it much and start working on January 3, or even January 2 if it is not a weekend.

There is a Japanese shrine in Kuala Lumpur near a Japanese school.

Japanese people in Kuala Lumpur also go to the shrine to celebrate the New Year’s Day.

According to the head priest in the shrine, they also organize ceremonies when Japanese companies establish new offices or factories.

So since last year, I have been going to the shrine to pray and get a good luck charm, draw a fortune.

2. How a Japanese celebrated this year in Malaysia

As a Japanese, I tried my best to get in the festive mood in Malaysia this year.

Last year, I saw a Japanese friend of mine making Osechi, a traditional Japanese dish in Malaysia, on Instagram.

There are many supermarkets where you can get Japanese food and seasonings.

So I started looking for a simple recipe that I could make in Malaysia.

I found some that could be cooked in a microwave oven and decided to make some traditional dishes.

These are the dishes I made.

1. Nishime (cooked vegetables in soy sauce)

2. Gomame (dried young anchovies)

3. Simmered shrimp

4. Mashed sweet potatoes with sweetened chestnuts

5. Chicken ham

6. Vinegared radish and carrot

Chicken ham is actually not a traditional dish, but they buy the ham, slice it and eat it with traditional dishes.

I invited my friends to my house to share a meal and experience the Japanese New Year feeling.

During New Year’s, Japanese people often eat this kind of food at home.

However, looking at Malaysian Instagram posts, many people enjoy eating outside at cafes and other places.

I was a little surprised at first, but it made sense when I learned that New Year’s Day is a normal holiday in Malaysia.

3. Christmas Decorations in Malaysia

One of the things I look forward to in Malaysia is the beautiful decorations in the shopping malls.

Christmas is also celebrated in Malaysia, so the malls become lively with decorations from mid-November.

There are very large trees that use the space in a three-dimensional way, and I feel that the decorations are more dynamic than those in Japan.

Depending on the venue, you may enjoy an atmosphere as if you are in a Scandinavian country.

Also, the very colorful and bright decorations, which are unique to the tropical country of Malaysia, will also brighten up your mood.

Colorful and flashy is one of my favorite aspects of Malaysia, which is different from Japan, a relatively quiet country.

Some stalls are set up alongside the decorations, depending on the event.

At Christmas time, for example, cookies and other sweets, wreaths and other decorations, interior goods, and gift items are sold.

Although there are no four seasons in Malaysia, you can experience the change of seasons through ethnic events, including Christmas.

4. New Year’s Day event in Malaysia

I went to a New Year’s Eve event in Malaysia.

Unlike Japan’s cold winter New Year’s Eve, this was a summer New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve, so I felt as if I was attending a kind of summer festival.

The venue was Elmina Central Park, a 40-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur, and the event had four different venues themed around countries of the world for each of the four seasons.

Spring in the Netherlands

Summer in Morocco

Autumn in Korea

Winter in Finland

Since it doesn’t snow in Malaysia, the Finnish venue was impressive with artificial snow prepared in bubbles.

At the venue in Korea, the combination of autumn leaves and the color of the buildings were very beautiful.

At the Moroccan venue, the lamps and interior decorations had an exotic atmosphere, and I was even able to take a photo with a camel.

The Dutch venue had beautiful tulip-shaped lights and a windmill sculpture.

There was also an amusement park-like venue where families and couples enjoyed the merry-go-round and trapeze rides.

Unlike the solemn atmosphere of the New Year’s holiday in Japan, the Malaysian New Year’s Eve celebration was more like a party, and I was impressed by how people were enjoying it as a holiday event.

I will write about how I feel about the Chinese new year in Malaysia in the next article.
Cultural differences in celebrating the new year in Japan and Malaysia 2.Chinese New Year