Shimenawa, Shide and Kadomatsu, traditional Japanese New Year

It is a Japanese New Year custom to display, on the house entry door or on the porch, a special knitted rope made from rice straws called shimekezari. Special strips of zigzag folded white paper, called shide, are hung on rice rope, the result being one of the best-known Japanese decorations:

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Shimenawa is usually used at Shinto shrines to mark sacred spaces and to chase away the evil spirits. The shimekezari used on New Year has a similar meaning.

There are more methods to make a shimenawa and also several methods to make a shide, which can have 2, 4 or 8 folds.

If you wish to see how it is made, here are two excellent videos detailing the procedures:

How to make a Japanese Shimenawa with Shide:

How to make a Japanese Shinto Shide:

…and here are several photos with Japanese New Year Shimekazari :

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Another New Year Japanese custom is to place, on both sides of the entry door, kadomatsu (門松, meaning gate pine), a decoration made from bamboo, pine or ume twigs, tied together with a straw rope.

Each element from the kadomatsu carries a significance, the bamboo symbolizes strength and growth, and the pine symbolizes long life. Usually the kadomatsu is made from 3 bamboo strains, diagonally cut, around 1 meter tall.

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Kadomatsu

The kadomatsu, considered temporary housing for kami (gods), are placed on the front door after Christmas and are kept until January 7th, to welcome the toshigami, the god of the new year.
It is believed that toshigami brings prosperity and good luck in the next year to the families (or the businesses) protected by kadomatsu.

Here are several photos with various kadomatsu:

În Japonia, de Anul Nou, pe uşa de la intrarea în casă sau pe poartă se pune shimekezari, o frânghie împletită din paie de orez de care se agaţă shide, bucăţi de hârtie de formă specială.

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Shimenawa se foloseşte la altarele shinto pentru a delimita spaţiul sacru de cel profan şi pentru a alunga spiritele rele, iar shimekezari are acelasi rol.

Sunt mai multe metode a împleti shimenawa şi, de asemenea, mai multe metode a face shide, cu 2, 4 sau 8 îndoiri.

Dacă doriţi să vedeţi cum se face, iată două videoclip-uri cu modul de lucru:

Cum se face o Shimenawa cu Shide:

Cum se fac Shide:

Şi iată şi câteva fotografii cu Shimekazari:

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Shimekezari

De o parte şi de cealaltă a uşii de la intrare se aşează două kadomatsu (門松, gate pine), o pereche de decoraţii făcute din bambus, ramuri de pin sau de ume, legate împreună cu o frânghie din paie.

Fiecare element care compune kadomatsu are o semnificaţie, bambusul simbolizează putere, iar pinul viaţă lungă. De obicei se folosesc 3 tulpini de bambus, înalte cam de 1 metru, tăiate în diagonală.

Traditional Japanese New Year Decoration, Kadomatsu

Kadomatsu se pun în faţa uşii după Crăciun şi se lasă până pe 7 ianuarie, pentru ca toshigami, zeul noului an, să aducă prosperitate şi noroc familiei (sau afacerii) în anul următor.

Iată câteva fotografii cu diverse kadomatsu.