Japanese New Year uses two greetings, and the order is the whole trick. Before January 1, you say yoi otoshi o (良いお年を), "have a good year-end." From January 1 onward, you switch to akemashite omedetou (あけましておめでとう) — happy new year, literally "congratulations on the year opening." Say the wrong one and you've either rushed the year or missed it.
Get that timing right and you sound thoughtful and in step. Everything else about oshogatsu (お正月), the New Year period, is warmth and ritual.
The two-phrase system
Through late December, you wish people yoi otoshi o as you part — a hope that the closing days of their year go well. It's the sign-off of the season.
The moment the new year begins, the greeting flips. Now it's akemashite omedetou, with gozaimasu added to be polite.
良いお年を
yoi otoshi o
Have a good year-end (before Jan 1)
あけましておめでとうございます
akemashite omedetou gozaimasu
Happy new year (from Jan 1, polite)
今年もよろしくお願いします
kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
This year too, please treat me well
The follow-up that seals it
Almost no one stops at "happy new year." The natural second breath is kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu (今年もよろしくお願いします) — "this year too, please treat me well." It's said to family, friends, and coworkers alike, often in one flow right after akemashite omedetou. Learn that pair and you've got the whole exchange.
Oshogatsu customs
New Year is the biggest holiday of the Japanese calendar, and it comes with its own traditions.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お正月 | oshogatsu | the New Year period |
| 初詣 | hatsumode | first shrine visit of the year |
| 年賀状 | nengajo | New Year postcards |
| お年玉 | otoshidama | money gift for children |
| おせち | osechi | New Year feast in lacquer boxes |
| 除夜の鐘 | joya no kane | temple bells on New Year's Eve |
Hatsumode (初詣) is the year's first shrine visit; the major shrines fill with people in the first days of January — our guide to shrine and temple etiquette covers what to do when you get there. Nengajo (年賀状) are postcards timed to land exactly on January 1, and children receive otoshidama (お年玉), small envelopes of money. Families gather over osechi (おせち), a spread of symbolic foods packed into stacked lacquer boxes — each dish standing for a wish like health, wealth, or long life in the year ahead.
At midnight, temples ring the joya no kane (除夜の鐘) 108 times — once for each of the 108 earthly desires that Buddhist teaching says cloud the human heart. The slow, echoing count is one of the quietest, loveliest sounds in Japan.
When the greeting expires
Akemashite omedetou belongs to the fresh start, so it fades over the first weeks of January and feels odd by month's end. Among friends, the texted short form is ake-ome (あけおめ) — cheerful, casual, and strictly for people you're close to. If you're greeting someone for the very first time that year, it still lands warmly well into mid-January, so you rarely have to fret over the exact day.
Keep learning Japanese
A greeting given at just the right moment is a small gift in itself. Add these to your repertoire with our free Japanese greetings phrases, then practice them with audio and speaking drills in the Pretalk app, so you're ready whether it's December 31 or New Year's morning.
