Japanese New Years?

Not exactly baseball related, but it is culturally related.

Japan follows the Western calendar, so January 1 is the new year for everyone here. It's China that has their own, independent calendar. (And I'll attest to the accuracy of the Chinese Birth Calendar as well.) While North America gets an exteded holiday around Chrismas, we here in Japan generally get December 29th to January 4 (7 days) off for the new year.

Business and school related, the fiscal year is April 1 through March 31 (with schools having a 2 to 3 week holiday overlapping that). While we're now in the 18th year of the current Emperor (Heisei 18 nen), all school related materials for PTA are headed with "Heisei 17 nen do." Paystubs and the like are similarly labeled "Heisei 17 nen do" through the end of March as well. January through March are the final quarter for businesses in Japan.

I believe that much of this is the same in North America, although the start of yearly terms are different for schools. So the concept is not distinctly Japanese.

Hope this helps.

Since 1873, Japan has followed the same months as the Gregorian calendar, so January 1st is the official New Year's Day for Japan. It lasts until January 3rd.

Before 1873, the lunar calendar was used. China, Korea, and Vietnam used this calendar as well - China until 1912.

During New Year's, Japanese people send postcards to their friends and relatives. These postcards would have a Chinese zodiac sign of the new year as their design. 2006 is the year of the dog. Thus Snoopy is quite popular this year. Furthermore, the Japanese give pocket money to children. This is known as otoshidama, which is a custom from China. It is handed out in small decorated envelopes called "pochibukuro," descendants of the Chinese red packet.