Let me tell you about the Japanese New Year with the help of these ”Photos from the Television”
Japan celebrates New Year in it’s own special way just like all other countries.
The Photos will help me explain “Oshogatsu”, and the words that start with “Hatsu”.
Let me explain … Shogatsu is New Year, the “O” is added to make it more polite, or formal.
Hatsu is the pre-fix that means “First”.
Hatsumode – refers to the first visit of the year to the temple or the shrine. The most popular shrine for this is the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo. There are also other major Hatsumode places around Japan such as the Shinsoji Temple in Narita, Chiba; Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha; Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Taisha and Kamakura’s Tsuruoka Hachimangu to name a few.
After eating the Toshikoshi Soba, many people go to Hatsumode.
Welcoming the New Year - Hatsumode at the Meiji Jingu Shrine
People saying their "special prayer and wish"
Even the snow cannot stop them from their Hatsumode
Hatsuhinode – The first Sunrise of the year
Many Japanese go to the mountains, visit the beaches, or wherever they can catch a beautiful first sunrise.
Thanks to Mari Nihei for this photo of their Hatsuhinode
Other Photos are from my T.V. 
Hatsuhinode - from beautiful places
Sunrise on Mt. Fuji
The first rays of sunshine from my room
Hatsu-uri – This is what many shoppers look forward to, the first “sale” events of the year. People line up at the department stores and shops to buy their “Fuku-bukuro” or “lucky bags”. These bags contain several “surprise” items. The bags are usually sold at a price lower than the real price of all the items combined in the bag. The bags are sealed and no one knows what exactly they are buying. If you are lucky, you will really get some cool stuff inside.
And lastly, here is … Hatsu-Jump
Read more about New Year’s Eve @ Japanese Oomisoka and Hatsumode
Here is another interesting article I just found about Hatsumode. Thanks Hello Tokyo.
These two pages from Tokyo Fashion.com are so cool, Fukubukuro, the “Lucky bags” and Shibuya Lucky bags .
Check them out. 
