Switching from Christmas to Oshogatsu Mode!

Only 3 days left in 2025! Time is flying!
In the U.S., I feel like Christmas decorations often stick around for a while even after the 25th, but as a Japanese person, my holiday season starts now. So today, my husband and I packed away the Christmas stuff and pulled out our New Year decorations!

In Japan, New Year’s is one of the most important holidays of the year. Families gather to share osechi—a set of traditional dishes packed into beautiful boxes. We visit relatives, give or receive otoshidama (money gifts for kids), and go to shrines to say thanks for the past year and pray for good fortune in the year ahead.

2026 is the Year of the Horse, so we put up a horse-themed artwork we found at an art gallery called Joy Machine. I love its bold colors and the sense of speed in the horse’s pose—so good! And beneath it, I placed our little kagami mochi. It’s a traditional New Year’s decoration to welcome the toshigami (year god). Normally it's made from real mochi (rice cakes), but ours is a minimal wooden version—and it’s super cute. I also brought out the mini kadomatsu I made at a workshop last year, and and hung a traditional Japanese New Year’s decoration on our front door.

Now we’re officially ready to welcome 2026!