Lunar New Year is one of Asia’s most important annual celebrations, bringing together families for reunions, ceremonial meals, and prayers to ancestors.

Although it remains central in countries such as China, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore, its place in the Japanese calendar has all but disappeared.

The lunar calendar will be abolished by law.

In 1873, the Meiji government officially adopted the Gregorian calendar and abolished the lunar calendar by law.

Hirochika Nakamaki, a professor emeritus at the National Museum of Ethnology and an expert on calendar culture, says that the transition to a new calendar in the early Meiji period was in line with the larger trend of so-called “civilization and enlightenment.”

“It was a big decision to break away from the calendar used in civilized China and switch to the Western calendar.”

He added that the change symbolizes Japan’s determination to re-establish itself internationally.

“The Meiji government pursued policies aimed at catching up with and overtaking the West.

“Both diplomatically and domestically, the introduction of Western civilization reflected an ideology known as chuānō, or leaving Asia for Europe. The calendar change can be seen as a symbolic expression of this change,” he says.

Japan’s “lost month”

The change was sudden.

On December 3, 1872, according to the lunar calendar, the government announced that the date would be moved forward to January 1, 1873.

Nearly 27 days disappeared overnight, creating what is often referred to as Japan’s “lost month.”

Professor Nakamaki said the people who felt the effects most strongly were those who depended on natural cycles for their livelihood.

“In the case of agriculture, the seasonal cycle was disrupted. Fishing villages were closely connected to the tides and the waxing and waning of the moon. People were used to living according to the rhythm of the moon, so it was difficult to quickly transition to a new calendar.”

As a result, the recruitment landscape was very different.

This uneven trend is reflected in a nationwide survey conducted in 1889 by Hisashi Terao of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory.

They found that urban centers and state institutions, including the civil service, military, schools, and banks, adapted more quickly, while rural and coastal communities continued to rely on old systems.

In many regions, the old and new calendars were used side by side. When both systems coexist, they play different roles.

While the Gregorian New Year became a public marker shaped by public events and community events, the Lunar New Year was often preserved as a quieter, family-centered celebration.

Caught between the lunar and Gregorian calendars, communities adopted a pragmatic compromise and held festivals about a month late to match the season.

Many of these adjustments remain today, including major festivals such as Kyoto’s Gion Festival and Osaka’s Tenjin Festival.

Professor Nakamaki also points to Obon, a Buddhist period during which ancestral spirits are believed to return home.

It is observed in Tokyo in mid-July, but it continues to be observed a month later in many other areas of Japan.

A place where the rhythm of the moon continues

Although Lunar New Year disappeared nationwide, elements of Lunar New Year remained in areas such as Okinawa and Amami Oshima (part of the Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture), which were historically part of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Kumiko Ho, a Sydney resident who was born and raised in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, says her family never celebrated the Gregorian New Year.

“There is no real celebration on January 1st. We may watch New Year’s TV programs and say, “Happy New Year,” but the real feeling that “New Year is here” comes during Chinese New Year.”

At Itoman’s fishing port, boats raise flags and tourists flock to pray for a bountiful catch on lunar days, she said.

Unlike Lunar New Year celebrations in other parts of Asia, Okinawa’s festivals are low-key.

“During Lunar New Year, everyone gathers to prepare special dishes for the day. Families make celebratory dishes packed in double boxes with foods such as Chinese soup and taam dengaku. Afterwards, we visit relatives far away, so it feels like an annual reunion,” explains Ho.

In Okinawa, almost all traditional events continue to follow the lunar calendar, including grave-visiting festivals such as Bon and Shimi, creating a rhythm of life that is different from that in other parts of Japan.

A similar rhythm can be found in parts of Amami.

Yukino Matsumoto, who was born and raised on Amami Oshima and now lives in Sydney, remembers celebrating both calendars as a child.

“Up until I was in third or fourth grade, I celebrated both dates. But after my grandmother passed away, I started celebrating only January 1st.

“In Amami Oshima, we celebrate the New Year with a traditional ceremonial dish called sangon, rather than mainland-style osechi. It was originally prepared during the Lunar New Year, but as the Gregorian calendar took hold, it gradually moved to January 1st. At that time, our family prepared sangon for both New Year’s and New Year’s.”

According to Matsumoto, the dish symbolizes wishes for health, prosperity, and strong family ties, and is shared during New Year’s family visits.

Other annual events such as Obon, Tanabata, and Doll’s Festival continued to follow the lunar calendar, she added.

“For Girls’ Day, we started decorating Hina dolls on March 3rd of the new calendar.

“But we left them until the lunar date on which that day was celebrated, and only then put them away.”

dual structure of time

Japan may no longer treat Lunar New Year as a national holiday, but that doesn’t mean the old rhythms have disappeared.

Professor Nakamaki says that Okinawa once existed “in between” two worlds shaped by China, and at the same time coexisted with the political and cultural order of the Edo shogunate and developed its own unique civilization.

“On the surface, Japan appears to live according to the Western calendar. However, beneath it, the lunar calendar also continues. Rather than forcibly breaking away, Japan has adapted to urbanization and Westernization. This dual structure may be one of the characteristics of Japanese civilization.”

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