In Japan, the start of the each new year is very important! If you don’t follow us on Instagram yet, please do. We always share photos from behind the scenes in the workshop in Kochi. Last month, we shared a series of photos detailing the end of year and start of the year traditions in the business. Go check it out, please and thank you!

On the last working day of each year, the family drive up the mountain to a shrine to give offerings of snacks and light candles and incense for a positive new year. The views driving up the mountain are jaw dropping. The landscape in Kochi is gorgeous and varied. 

On the last working day of the year the entire workshop is cleaned top to bottom. The kamidana or god shelf is removed. This is essentially a mini shrine in the office where the good spirits are asked to look after the company and its workers. It will be replaced by a new one on the first working day of the new year. The kamidana is placed high up on wall, above normal eye height and certainly never at ground level. It is also placed somewhere on a wall never over an entrance – no one should walk below it. 

After the cleaning is completed but before the new year begins, wreaths and mochi (sweet, chewy rice cake) are placed on each workstation by Master Ike for good fortune and safety in the New Year. The will be collected on the first day back to the workshop.

In Japan, it is customary to start a new year with a new futon. You don’t get a new one every year, but when it is time, the start of the year is the time to do so. Of course, we support this tradition. January is often one of the busiest months of the year.