The New Year has begun. Scientifically speaking, it is the beginning of another rotation of the earth. Nothing changes compared to the days before; however, we feel something different in the air, in the sunlight and in the sounds we hear. There is an exclusive atmosphere most Japanese find only in the morning of January 1 st . It may be a sense of ‘Aratamari', a fresh feeling that has been unconsciously nurtured in this country throughout our history.

The letter Sho (正) of Shogatsu (正月 , the New Year day) represents what ‘Aratamari' is all about. Having punctuated a year long chapter, we move on to the New Year. That is why January, the first month of the New Year, is called Shogatsu (正月) in Japanese. At the beginning of the New Year, our life is refreshed and new energy is charged. We pray and celebrate that our life will go on in peace, abundance and well-being.

Japanese have developed events to celebrate Shogatsu throughout history for thousands of years. The term itself, Shogatsu, has become a synonym of fascinating and delightful events. For example, the expression of ‘Me no Shogatus' (Shogatsu for our eyes), means something very beautiful and visually delightful.

‘Shogatsu Shimai' means to prepare for events of New Year celebration. People start to arrange things for Shogatsu in December. The New Year's eve, December 31 st , is called ‘Otsugomori', or ‘Omisoka'. The sounds of temple bells, which ring one hundred and eight times at each temple at the turn of a year, are supposed to renounce one hundred and eight worldly desires in our minds. When our worldly desires disappear, we can greet a new year.

The worldly desires are separated into six classifications: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and emotional. Each classification of desire is divided into three sub-classifications: lust, mediocrity and vice. Each of these three sub-classifications are further divided into two aspects: infection and purification. Last of all, each divided element is composed three timeframes: past, present and future. This brings the total variation of desire counts up to one hundred and eight. (6 × 3 × 2 × 3). People in old times made a pun playing with the number 108. (The number 108 is also made up from 4(Shi) × 9(Ku) × 8(Ha) × 9(Ku), which are continuously pronounced “Shi-Ku-Hakku”in Japanese. When put into Chinese letters,“Shi-Ku-Hakku” homonymouly means being in troubles and hardships. Therefore, 108 worldly desires are considered to be 108 sufferings.)

When a New Year starts, a series of New Year ceremonies take place. Hatsumode (New Year's first visit to a shrine), Hatsuhinode (observation of New Year's day sunrise), Hatsuyume (New Year's first dream), Hatsuni (the first cargo of the New Year). Kakizome for calligraphy is the first piece of calligraphy an individual practices in the New Year. There are Ikezome for a flower arrangement, Hatugama for a tea ceremony, Hatsukukai for haiku composing, Utakaihajime for tanka composing (a thirty-one syllable poem), and so on and so forth.

On January 2 nd, the training and practice of lessons such as dancing and playing music start. Such starting ceremonies are called Maihajime (Japanese dancing), Hikihajime (Japanese musical instruments), Utaihajime (reciting Japanese chants such as Noh texts).

Kohzome is one of the traditional New Year practices we should not fail to remember. On the New Year's morning, the scent of sweet Kohboku fragrance hangs in the air. The smell makes our minds fresh and clear, calling up peaceful and exciting sensations. The supreme fragrance of Kyara will inspire us to rejoice over the beginning of the New Year, enhancing our wishes for the year to be plentiful. The dignified scent of Jinko fragrance will make us feel noble, acting as an incentive to model our behavior accordingly. Graceful Byakudan fragrance will help in bringing about a warm and amiable atmosphere within our families.

People who lived earlier in Koh history also must have enjoyed a delightful time, wishing for happiness at the beginning of the New Year. More than one thousand and four hundred years ago, in the period of Empress Suiko, Prince Shotoku presented her with a piece of Kohboku (fragrance wood) that had miraculously drifted ashore on the coast of Awajishima . He learnt that the piece of wood was ‘Jinko', a very rare and precious fragrance wood. The story is described in Nihonshoki, the oldest historical literature in Japan , and the oldest description of Kohboku in Japan .

According to history, Prince Shotoku carved the wood into a religious figure. The shaved off wood chips were then burnt as Kohboku. We can imagine how delightfully the Empress and Prince welcomed in that New Year, imbued in the fragrance of Jinko, wishing for peaceful and plentiful days to come.

In 754 A.D., the respected priest of Tang, Ganjin, finally arrived on the soil of Japan . He made five attempts at voyages full of hardships and dangers before successfully reaching his destination. Ganjin is well known for introducing Buddhism to Japan . Alongside volumes of Buddhism Sutras, he brought fundamental elements of Koh culture.

Seven hundred years after that, in the Muromachi period, the venerable Zen priest Ikkyu Sojun epitomized ten virtues of Koh fragrance into forty Kanji letters (Chinese letters). They are ‘Koh no Juttoku'. The efficacy of Koh, which is scientifically proven today, was already recognized in the earlier period of Koh history in Japan .

Burning Kyara at the beginning of the New Year, I imbue myself with noble fragrance. The New Year is starting, and my thoughts go to the eternity of the history I am privileged to enjoy.