山口大学　Yamaguchi University

TOP > WEEKLY NEWS > Research Institute for Time Studies has Held a Lunar New Year Party (rice-cake making)

This year’s day for lunar New Year, Monday, January 23, Research Institute for Time Studies being the sponsor, the lunar New Year party was held.
In Japan we have a New Year on January 1 because we have calendar revisioned it from December 3, 1872 to January 1, 1873.This event was done by Research Institute for Time Studies, which researches many things about time, and this event was part of education research activity about how “time (calendar)” like solar calendar and lunar calendar has affected the Japanese life. So we’ve celebrate the lunar calendar’s lunar New Year and also we thought about New Year’s tradition and culture, so we experienced the rice-cake making since it was done in the past on New Year by Japanese.
On the day, it was a very cold day, but about 100 people from the community have gathered and Director Tsuji has opened the party with a greeting speech. After that, student, foreign exchange student, and teachers have started the rice-cake making. During the rice-cake making President Marumoto and Vice-President Miike (Academic Reaserch) we very synchronized and everybody gave them a clap. The freshly make rice-cake was served inside the zenzai and after that we’ve experienced the traditional Japanese New Year activity like koma-mawashi, hanetsuki, and tako-age.
We were able to think over about New Year, and it was a great time.Director Tsuji’s opinion is that event like “festival” gets social life to be in “same rhythm”, and it plays an important role in making a smooth human relationship. For the foreign exchange student from East Asia, where they cherish the lunar New Year, it was an amazing “rice-cake making” for them.