Kazue Watlington travels to Japan, visiting relatives for the Japanese New Year

As we near the beginning of the holiday season, anticipation for winter break is mounting and the excitement in the air is palpable. Counselor Kazue Watlington has good reason to be excited: over the break she will be traveling to Japan to visit relatives.

“It takes about 14 hours. Even though the flight is long it is not that bad because it is a direct flight from Washington, D.C., to Tokyo. It is exciting because you’re visiting your family members,” said Watlington.  Direct flights eliminate complications with luggage becuase there is no transfering from plane to plane.

“The biggest holiday for the Japanese  is New Year’s, and that’s the main reason we travel to celebrate,” said Watlington. “It is a time of the year when families get together, even those who have busy schedules take at least three days off from their busy schedules for the holiday,” said Watlington.

“I have always gone to Japan for Christmas except two times. The first time was because I got married to an American and I had to wait for my papers so I could not get out of the country since I came here as a student,” said Watlington.  “The second time was due to Y2K. Many people were worried that computers would stop functioning properly so my mom got scared and she said to not come fearing it might affect my flight. ”

As with many cultures that are different from our own, the Japanese “have a completely different way celebrating the New Year’s. Unlike here, in Japan, we put pine trees on every door which is believed to stop evil spirits from entering,” said Watlington.  Another tradition is that people eat noodles because they believe that eating them will lead to a long and healthy life.  

“Kids are given money on the holiday in lieu of presents like here [in the U.S.],” said Watlington trying to show the difference in cultures.