It’s early morning and the sky is sunny, the air fresh and crisp as the residents of Ichinokura, part of Tajimi City in Gifu Prefecture, begin to filter into the local school grounds, to gather together around a blazing fire to warm themselves, eat, sing, and enjoy good company! What’s the occasion? It’s Dondo-yaki in Ichinorkura.
The day is also called “Small New Year’s Day” and outside the main urban centers of Tokyō and Ōsaka, in what might be more properly be called “mainstream Japan,” in almost every town and village, people come together to celebrate the New Year.
Dondo-yaki has its origins in the Sagi-cho Matsuri, celebrated for the first time at New Years in the late 16th century and organized in grandiose fashion by the “Great Unifier” Oda Nobunaga, who himself wore makeup and danced in the original celebration. While still celebrated in January in some parts of Japan, such as in Kamakura, Sagi-cho as a separate festival, has typically been moved to mid-March in order to assure good weather and a much larger, extravagant festival; the largest of which is celebrated in Omihachiman-shi, Shiga Prefecture. Yet, Dondo-yaki traces its origins even further back in time than the “Warring States Era;” back to ancient Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture: a town which lies at the core of ancient Japanese history and the foundations of Shintō.
[i] According to tradition, a kami (god) named Toshitokujin, the goddess with responsibility for auspicious directions and happenings for the coming year (and when happy, insures an abundant harvest to come) visits during the New Year’s season, to announce the arrival of Shōgatsu-sama (literally, “Honorable New year”). The celebration is regionally known by several different names, including Onbe-yake, Kangari, and Saito-yaki, but by and large, is best known as Dondo-yaki.
New Year’s traditions run deep in Japan and begin on December 31. Many Japanese wives and moms however, will attest that the traditions begin well before the 31st, with the traditional New Year house cleaning (at times an awesome undertaking) and the cooking of traditional Japanese foods for the coming holidays. Wise men and husbands absent themselves during this period or else find themselves in forced domestic labor.
One of the primary traditions linked to Dondo-yaki is the burning of New Year’s decorations such as kadomatsu, shimenawa, and Omomori. A kadomatsu (門松) (literally “gate pine”) is a traditional New Year decoration which is placed in pairs in front of homes shortly after Christmas, with the intention of welcoming ancestral spirits or kami and acting as temporary housing for them; in particular Toshitokujin, who will bring a bountiful harvest and confer the blessings of ancestors on everyone
A Kyoto-style kadomatsu.
Designs vary depending on the region; however, by and large they are made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes sprigs from ume (plum) trees, which represent longevity, prosperity and dedication.
Simenawa adorn every village street at New Years.
Shimenawa (標縄 ) or “enclosing rope) are lengths of sacred ropes, made of rice straw, used for purification in Shintō, which at New Years are hung across the tops of gates marking then entryway to a house or the front door of a home to indicate a pure space and thus to ward off evil. Often shimenawa are decorated with shide (紙垂 ), zigzag shaped paper streamers, another symbol of purification.
Omamori (お守り) are charms, good luck charms, dedicated to particular Shintō and Buddhist deities. The word mamori means protections, and Omamori means “honorable protector.” On Dondo-yaki, the town or village gathers at some central place and burn all these sacred symbols for the greeting of the New Year in a traditional bon fire. By burning these decorations, they are then sent off to the gods as gifts.
Another tradition of Dondo-yaki is connected to the art of Shodō, or Japanese calligraphy. Kakizome (書き初 ) or “first writing” is a term for the first calligraphy written at the beginning of a year, traditionally done on January 2). Kakizome are done using ink made from the first water drawn from a well on New Year’s Day. Seated and facing in an auspicious (favorable) direction, the calligrapher writes poetry that contains equally auspicious words and phrases, such as “long life,” “spring,” or “endless youth.” In Japanese schools, children are assigned kakizome as homework over the winter holidays. Usually the assignment consists of writing auspicious kanji (characters) rather than entire poems. At the Dondo-yaki celebration, the kakizome papers are burned in the same fire as are the New Years decorations. Tradition says that if the burning paper flies high, then the person who created the calligraphy will be able to write even better in the coming year.
Aside from the religious traditions associated with Dondo-yaki, what makes the occasion so special and fun, is the sense of community. In Ichinokura, for example, the entire town comes together for the celebration. The sense of community, so common throughout mainstream Japan, is incredibly strong and something that the West could take note of. People come to celebrate the New Year with music, dance, games, conversation, and food; everything, including the food, is free! The event is planned and organized on a community level with the entertainment, food and labor provided by the residents of the town.
Keeper of the "Sacred Fire"
The Ichinokura Shobo Dan. Our equivalent
to American volunteer fire departments. They are
all Ichinokura residents who volunteer for fire
service and work alongside Tajimi firemen
whenever there is an emergency call for service.
On days like this, the local police station is closed. Then
again, it's closed everyday - the local crime rate
is so low, we don't need police!
Ichinokura Taiko Dan, taiko group.
Want to eat? Just bring your own bowl and hashi (chopsticks) – there is no charge for the rice cakes, Japanese barbeque, grilled fish, zenzai (red bean soup) and other fantastic delicacies. Zenza, also known as oshiruko (お汁粉 ) is a traditional Japansese dessert. It is a sweed porridge of azuki beans, boiled and crushed, served in a bowl with mochi (rice cakes), dumplings, or even chestnuts, and perhaps topped with sweetened condensed milk. It’s loved by many Japanese, especially during the winter and the New Year celebration. Want saké, bring a cup: there’s plenty of New Years saké for everyone.
Cold but happy members of one of the
local food committies.
Grilling rice cakes on a cold winter morning -
very tasty and warming! 
Grilled fish! Yum!
Almost everyone in town turns out
for the free food and entertainment.
There's plenty of sake to go around!
If you are going to visit our beautiful prefecture of Gifu-ken at New Years, please make sure to visit one of our local Dondo-yaki celebrations and enjoy some of the true spirit of Japan and the Japanese people. Oh, and bring a bowl, hashi, and a large cup!
[i] For more information on Shinto and traditional Japanese festivals, customs, and celebrations, there is a wealth of information available in
Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, Volumes I and II, by Lafcadio Hearn.
Copyright 2010 by Tokugawa Hayato and Shisei-Do Publications. All Rights reserved.
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Fresh fish at reasonable prices.
More fish, probably caught the day before.
Bacon for 97 yen - that's $1.50 USD!
Of course there are the ever-present vending machines.
Something you rarely see in the US, a pay telephone! Very handy
Security directing traffic into the home store parking lot.
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