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O-Shogatsu, Japanese New Year

On January 13, we invite you to celebrate O-Shogatsu at the Garden. Festivities will include an authentic tea ceremony, a demonstration and workshop of ink-wash brush painting, koto harp performance, a traditional New Year card game called hyakunin isshu karuta, and a shishimai lion dance. Take a stroll around the Garden where you will see traditional arrangements of pine, bamboo, and plum–the “three friends of winter”– either affixed to pillars (sho-chiku-bai / 松竹梅)  or in plantings at gates (kadomatsu / 門松). These small decorative displays are where the toshigami (Shinto gods of the incoming year) are said to be manifest, bringing good health and prosperity for the year ahead.