The Japanese eat a selection of dishes during the New Year celebration called osechi-ryōri, typically shortened to osechi.

Another popular dish is ozōni, a soup with mochi rice cake and other ingredients, which differ in various regions of Japan.

The original purpose was to give faraway friends and relatives tidings of oneself and one's immediate family— to tell those whom one did not often meet that he/she was alive and well.

The animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

Rubber stamps with conventional messages and with the annual animal are for sale at department stores and other outlets, and many people buy ink brushes for personal greetings.

Conventional greetings include: On New Year's Day, Japanese people have a custom known as otoshidama [ja] where adult relatives give money to children.

It is handed out in small decorated envelopes called pochibukuro, similar to Shūgi-bukuro or Chinese hóngbāo and to the Scottish handsel.

In the Edo period, large stores and wealthy families would give out a small bag of mochi and a Mandarin orange to spread happiness all around.

During the first three days of the New Year the Seven Lucky Gods are said to pilot through the heavens to human ports on the Takarabune or Treasure Ship.

These include hanetsuki, takoage (kite flying), koma (spinning top), sugoroku, fukuwarai (whereby a blindfolded person places paper parts of a face, such as eyes, eyebrows, a nose and a mouth, on a paper face), and karuta (Japanese playing cards).

For many decades, it has been customary to watch the TV show Kōhaku Uta Gassen aired on NHK on New Year's Eve.

[3] The Ninth was introduced to Japan during World War I by German prisoners held at the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp.

During World War II, the Imperial government promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve, to encourage allegiance to Japanese nationalism.

[citation needed] After the war, orchestras and choruses, undergoing economic hard times during the reconstruction of Japan, promoted performances of the piece around New Years because of the popularity of the music with the public.

In the 1960s, performances of the symphony at New Years became more widespread, including participation by local choirs and orchestras, and established the tradition which continues to this day.

New Year decorations are taken down around this date and burnt in the Sagichō or Dondoyaki fire, and some temples hold events, such as Tōrin-in.