It’s now 5:19am (Hawaii time) on the first day of 2008. Why, you ask, for the love of cozy blankets and fluffy pillows, why am I awake? Well, I have to admit, when my alarm went off almost 20 minutes ago, I didn’t know, myself. But now I remember. I’m awake because I plan on going out to see the sunrise. While this isn’t a rare occurrence, I thought that this particular sunrise was might be relevant to you, the Tofugu audience, because it’s hatsuhinode (初日の出), or the first sunrise of the year.

You see, come New Year, the Japanese like to celebrate (so to speak) their “firsts’. For example, on New Year’s Eve/Day last year, the Tofugu team was at the Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷退社 or Head Shrine of Inari) in Kyoto, celebrating the first shrine visit of the year, called hatsumode (初詣).

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFw-atT2NZg']

Another interesting “first” is hatsuyume (初夢), or the first dream of the New Year. If you happen to dream about Mt. Fuji, a hawk and/or an eggplant tonight (January 1st), superstition dictates that this year will be a lucky one for you. Why? I’m not sure, but the theory I seem to have heard most is that 1) Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, 2) the hawk is a strong, clever bird, and 3) that the Japanese word for “eggplant”, 茄 (nasu), is a homonym for “accomplishment”, 成す (nasu).

So why do the Japanese care about this stuff? What makes the first laughter (笑い初め or waraizome), the first kanji (書初め or kakizome), or the first day of resuming work (仕事始め or shigotohajime) so special? Well, it stands to reason that the practice of noting “firsts” emphasizes the fact that this year is a clean slate; the previous year is over and forgotten. Literally. Throughout December, numerous bōnenkai (忘年会 or “forgetting the year parties”) are held where co-workers and friends come together to drink away the memory of the year that’s passed. Sounds good to me.

For the next few days, try paying special attention to your “firsts”. Doing so has a way of making everything seem just a little more meaningful, I find. Who knows, it might even help you make better decisions this year; after all, wouldn’t you feel bad about your first argument with your friends or your first speeding ticket? If you do try it, make sure you comment here to let us know how it’s working out! Oh, and I’ll try to get pictures/video of the sunrise (and maybe even last year’s hatsumode) up by the end of the day, so please check back if you’re interested. Done!

Edit: Here’s the sunrise off of Diamond Head (Honolulu, Hawaii)

There were also whales and crazy surfers doing dawn patrol.