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Kyouga Shinnen! 恭賀新喜！

An Asakusa shopping street crowded with year-end shoppers preparing to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rat in Tokyo, Dec. 26, 2007. 去年十二月二十六日，東京淺草購物大街上擠滿了年底為即將來臨的鼠年採購的人潮。　照片：法新社 PHOTO: AFP

Most schools and businesses in Japan close for a week or two around Jan. 1, after a round of parties and cleaning that traditionally mark the end of the year. Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, and so they celebrate the start of the Year of the Rat today.

The foods that accompany New Year celebrations in Japan are called osechi-ryori. Many are made throughout Japan; others vary from region to region. Each dish and ingredient is full of symbolism.

"Sweet potatoes are for a sweet year, burdock root is for strength, fish roe for lots of babies," said Naomi Sato, an English teacher who grew up in Seattle and lives in Kyoto. "The most important thing is to eat lots of red and white food, like namasu," she said, referring to a salad of carrots and white radish pickled in sweet vinegar. Red and white are considered the most auspicious and cheerful colors.

The New Year holiday is a time for big, boisterous meals that begin on New Year's Eve with toshikoshi ("crossing over") soba. The long buckwheat noodles in broth are slurped whole to promote longevity and to provide warmth. At midnight families bundle up and troop out to hear the monks at the neighborhood Buddhist temple strike the gong 108 times, marking the passing of the old year.

The New Year is toasted on Jan. 1 with cups of mulled sake, sweetened and spiked with spices. The centerpiece of the holiday meal is ozoni, a clear, rich broth simmered with carrots, radishes, greens, kamaboko (pressed fish cakes) and mushrooms.

Mochi is also a necessity at New Year celebrations. Traditionally it is made by an entire town or street at the end of each year, with everyone taking turns pounding the rice in a process called mochitsuki.(NYT)

日本多數學校和企業都會在元旦前後放假一至兩週，一連串的派對和大掃除傳統上象徵一年的結束。日本於一八七三年採用西元新曆，所以他們在今天慶祝鼠年的開始。

日本慶祝新年吃的食物稱為「御節料理」，許多料理在全國各地都一樣，有些則依地區各異；每道菜餚及食材都充滿象徵意涵。

「甘薯代表甘美的一年，牛蒡根代表力量，魚卵代表多子多孫，」一位在西雅圖長大，目前定居京都的英語教師佐藤直美說：「最重要的是一定要吃很多紅色和白色的食物，例如『namasu』。」她所說的是一種用甜醋醃漬的紅、白蘿蔔涼拌沙拉。紅色和白色被視為是最吉利、歡樂的顏色。

新年節慶時，人們聚在一起熱鬧享用豐盛菜餚，從跨年夜的「toshikoshi soba（過年麵）」開始，窸窸窣窣地吃完整碗長條蕎麥湯麵祈求長壽，還有保暖的效果；到了午夜，全家人穿戴暖和前往鄰近神社聽僧侶敲鐘一Ｏ八下，表示送走過去一年。

大家會在一月一日舉杯慶祝新年，喝著添加香料、口感香甜的熱清酒。新年料理的主菜「ozoni」是一道以紅、白蘿蔔、青菜、「kamaboko（魚板）」和香菇燉煮而成的清湯。

「Mochi（麻糬）」也是過新年必備的食物，傳統上每年年底全鎮或整條街的人都會輪流搗米，這個過程他們稱為「mochitsuki」。（紐約時報／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. symbolism n. 象徵性 (xiang4 zheng1 xing4) 例: I enjoy the symbolism employed in art house movies. (我喜歡藝術電影中所象徵的意涵。) 2. pickled adj. 醃漬的 (yan1 zi4 de5) 例: Pickled onions taste divine! (醃洋蔥味道棒極了！) 3. boisterous adj. 熱鬧的 (re4 nao4 de5) 例: The children were somewhat boisterous after being cooped up on the train for several hours. (在火車上悶了好幾個小時後，這些孩子變得有點吵鬧。) 4. longevity n. 長壽 (chang2 shou4) 例: Some people pray for longevity at the temple. (有些人到寺廟祈求長壽。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 Gregorian calendar 格里高里曆法 The Gregorian calendar refers to the calendar system put into place by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It amended the earlier Julian calendar. It did this by changing the number of leap years in a four hundred year period. Today many countries use the Gregorian calendar, although initially it was met with resistance, in some places even riots, as the populace protested the loss of 11 days. Japan is not the most recent convert to the Gregorian calendar, South Korea followed their example in 1896, and Turkey switched over as recently as 1926. 格里高里曆是教皇格里高里十三世於一五八二年頒行的曆法，它以四百年為週期更改當中閏年數目修訂了早期的儒略曆。雖然一開始有抗議民眾抵制這個會損失十一天的曆法，有些地方甚至還發生暴動，但今日許多國家都採用格里高里曆。 日本採用格里高里曆法已久，南韓在一八九六年也效 法日本採用該曆法，土耳其則是到了一九二六 年才改用此曆法。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Mitsu: Happy New Year! I hope the Year of the Rat is prosperous for you! Kiki: Year of the Rat? I thought we had to wait it out until the Lunar New Year? Mitsu: Not in Japan! Kiki: Really? So what about when Japan occupied Taiwan? When was the New Year celebrated then? Mitsu: Well, the Japanese celebrated it on Jan. 1, the Taiwanese still at the Lunar New Year. In fact, in Japan some rural communities still celebrate the Lunar New Year. 美津：新年快樂！祝妳鼠年行大運！ 琪琪：鼠年？我以為那要等到過農曆年才開始？ 美津：在日本可不是喔！ 琪琪：真的啊？那日本統治台灣的時候呢？那時候何時過新年？ 美津：唔，日本人在一月一日慶祝，台灣人還是會等到過農曆年。事實上，日本有些鄉下地區也還在過農曆年。 wait it out　等到（某事）結束 If you wait (something) out, then you wait patiently for something to change, rather than trying to affect the outcome. 如果你「wait out」某事，表示你耐心等待某事改變，而不試圖去影響結果。

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