The word “Kotohogi” means “to celebrate with words”.
There was a concept of “Kototama” that words have the power to make things real.
Using beautiful words to create beautiful things.
The idea of “Kototama” has given birth to waka poems and stories, and has cultivated Japanese culture.
Our ancestors have also left behind “forms” for future generations, such as paintings, crafts, and buildings.
We believe that “words” will become “things” and we say words with our thoughts to invite happiness.
This is the modern “Law of Attraction,” but celebrating with words is not possible without a partner.
The spiritual power that resides in words is called “Kototama,” and it can be seen and heard everywhere during the New Year.
A typical example of “Kotohogi” is the New Year’s greeting, “Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu” (Happy New Year).
It can also be felt in New Year’s decorations, Osechi eaten on New Year’s, and New Year’s customs.
The phrase “Akemashite omedetougozaimasu”(Happy New Year) means that human beings are kept alive by Mother Nature, and it also expresses gratitude for having passed the year safely, and the desire to make the most of the new year together.
Since it expresses feelings, it is essential to celebrate from the heart, and words alone are not enough.
When we welcome the New Year, we say “Akemashite omedetougozaimasu” to our families.
When we meet people in the community, we say “Akemashite omedetougozaimasu” to them.
“Akemashite omedetougozaimasu” to your relatives who live far away by phone or New Year’s card.
What lies behind the word “Kotohogi” is the idea of “connecting,” which has two parts: “time” and “space”.
Connecting Time
The past is the present, and the present builds the future.
We will all die one day.
We believe that the values of “remember death” and “live in the present” are conveyed in words and thoughts.
Connecting Space
From last year to this year, and from this year to next year.
From the ancestors to the present, from the present to the next generation.
The message is to connect time and “live in the present moment”.
The New Year’s ornaments and the Osechi eaten on New Year’s Day are also filled with meaning.
The pine tree is an image that symbolizes longevity and prosperity, and reminds us of the word.
In addition, there is a method of counting age called “counting years,” in which the age at birth is set as one year old, and one year is added for each subsequent New Year’s Day.
Everyone adds one year to their age on the first day of the year.
We leave our thoughts in the form of a system.
We also put our thoughts into the “fan” that represents the “end of the world”.
Living in a place surrounded by the same sea, benefiting from the mountains, plants, rivers, and oceans, we are part of nature.
We think this is a way of conveying the idea of coexistence and co-prosperity: “You are me, I am you.
The words that come out of our mouths are invisible to the eye.
Our ancestors felt the mysterious power (spiritual power) of the natural order to move people, just as it moves people to move each other.
Feeling the mysterious power that surpassed themselves, they held words in awe and treated them with care.
We feel that these are the “Kototama,” or spirits of words, that we have bequeathed to the present as values that recognize the existence of others and ourselves.
We have been loved and nurtured by each one of our ancestors until now, and we live in the present.
Our ancestors created these words to convey their thoughts to each other.
We hope we can pass them on to the next generation along with our thoughts.
