Tags: Holiday.
Ōmisoka (大晦日) New Year’s Eve is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year’s Day which is the most important day of the year.Around 11:00 pm on Ōmisoka at home people often gather for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of toshikoshi-soba (年越しそば) or toshikoshi-udon (年越しうどん) together—a tradition based on people’s association of eating the long noodles with “crossing over from one year to the next” which is the meaning of toshi-koshi.