Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei’s New Year Message for 1980

Kadomatsu 門松 — traditional pine and bamboo decoration made for the New Year

Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei’s New Year Message for 1980

(January, Shōwa 55 [1980], A talk given at the Kiitsu Kyōkai, in the magazine “Mahoroba” [まほろば])

When we welcome the New Year [新年], we express our joy by saying “Happy New Year” [あけましておめでとう, Akimashite omedetō]. But why, exactly, is the New Year considered such an auspicious [めでたい] occasion? In truth, the “New Year” is simply a continuation [継続] of the year that preceded it. Shōwa 55 [昭和五十五年] is effectively a year that has already lasted fifty-four years; by the Western calendar [西洋紀元], it is an ancient year that has continued for 1,579 years. (Note: this appears to be a misprint in the original text for 1,979).

From this perspective, the greeting used by English-speaking peoples [英語国民], “I wish you a happy new year” (meaning “I pray [念願する] you may enjoy a happy year ahead”), is quite rational [合理的]. Whether a year is auspicious [めでたい] or not depends not on the year itself, but on the person [人間]. Consequently [従って], while people in countries that view the New Year itself as auspicious [めでたい] do not deliver New Year’s cards [年賀状] until the 1st of January [一月一日], those in English-speaking countries [英語国] instead [むしろ] send and deliver them at the end of the old year [旧年末].

The occasion is auspicious [めでたい] not because the New Year has arrived, but because of what the New Year becomes [になるから]. It is auspicious [めでたい] because it marks a fresh start [発足] for self-awareness [自覚] and personal growth [生長]. Because we have the potential to become “newer” [益々新しくなる] with each passing year, I believe the English [英語] inquiry “How old are you?” should be revised [訂正] to “How young are you?”

I wish to reaffirm my respect [敬意] for the priest Ikkyū Oshō [一休和尚], who left us the warning [警告]: “The New Year's pine [門松] is but a milestone [一里塚] on the journey [旅] to the afterlife [冥途]; it is a thing both auspicious [めでたくもあり] and not auspicious [めでたくもなし].”