New Year's Day at Tokyo Tower

I have always liked studying time, clocks, and calendars. One of the things I am always being asked is "what time is it in Japan?". Here is a web site that will give you the time anywhere in the world: http://www.timeanddate.com/. I am posting this site on the right side of my blog so it should be easy to find again if you need it. It is easy to use and will also tell you how to dial any location in the world on the telephone. That is another thing I am always asked about. By the way, I put my telephone number at the bottom of all my emails so just look at an old one if you are trying to find it.

Of course one of the most important dates on any calendar is the first day of the year. Above you can see Tokyo Tower on 1/1/2005. The New Year is a very important holiday in Japan and it is considered a day to start anew as it is in many places. Just before midnight, they ring the temple bell 54 times - the same as the number of sins in the Buddhist religion. Then just after midnight they ring it 54 more times. I suppose this rings out the old ones and drives new ones away.

I think I've written before that odd numbers are considered lucky here and festivals fall around them. So:

• 1/1 January 1st - New Years Day
• 3/3 March 3rd - Hina Matsuri, the doll festival and a day for girls
• 5/5 May 5th - Hamamatsu Matsuri, Kite Flying Festival and a day for boys
• 7/7 July 7th - Tanabata Matsuri, Star Festival
• 9/9 September 9th - According to Hatta-san this one has something to do with the emperor

The Japanese calendar used to be lunar like the Chinese calendar of the Muslim calendar. But it has long since been changed to the Gregorian calendar. But they still put certain dates in terms of when the emperor's rule began.

Time marches on. Happy 2005!