Japan sees in year with shrine visits, rice cakes

TOKYO, Jan 1 (Reuters) Japanese ate rice cakes with their families, gathered to view the sunrise and packed shrines around the nation to pray for a good year as 2007 began today.

The New Year period is this workaholic nation's longest official holiday, with many businesses closed from December 30 to January 3, but stress replaces relaxation for many as they pack themselves into trains and endure endless traffic jams to head for home towns outside the major cities.

Travel away from Tokyo peaked on Saturday, with non-reserved sections of some trains filled to 190 percent of capacity.

''I can hardly wait for the New Year's money I'll get,'' one boy at Tokyo Station told Japanese television, referring to the money handed out to children by doting relatives.

Although some partied New Year's Eve away with their friends, as in the West, most Japanese spent the night at home, eating foods such as buckwheat noodles and watching television.

At midnight, giant bells at Buddhist temples rang 108 times to dispel the 108 earthly desires of mankind.

Soon after, worshippers -- some in traditional kimonos -- began heading for Shinto shrines, for which this is the busiest time of the year. A spokeswoman for the Meiji Shrine, one of Tokyo's most famous, said some 3 million people were expected to visit from January 1 to January 3.

''There are many police on hand to regulate visitor traffic, since otherwise everything would be confusion,'' she added.

In the past, coins tossed at offering boxes by throngs of worshippers damaged massive wooden pillars in front of the main shrine altar. This year, the pillars are protected by nets.

Japan is unusual among many Asian nations in that it does not celebrate the Lunar New Year. China, for example, shuts down for days during the Lunar New Year, while its celebrations for January 1 are less dazzling than in Japan or the West.

Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873 and has marked New Year's Day on January 1 ever since.

Some hardy souls awoke before dawn to try to view the first sunrise of the new year, usually at the ocean or another scenic spot. Weather was expected to be good across much of the nation.

Wherever they were, Japanese devoured mochi, cakes made of pounded glutinous rice, which are grilled and eaten in soup or sweet sauces. The sticky treats are a health hazard for the elderly, several of whom choke to death on them each year.

Most families also eat osechi, delicately flavoured foods chosen for their symbolic meaning. Traditionally these were made at home to last for all three days of the holiday and give busy housewives a rest, but nowadays a growing number of people buy them from stores.

Many families opt out of tradition altogether.

''We're busier than normal on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day,'' said a worker at a take-out pizza shop in Ichikawa, a suburb just east of Tokyo. ''People gather together in groups, and they want to eat our pizza.'' Reuters DH VP0725