Shogatsu Kotohajime / Susuharai (Start of New Year Preparations / Soot Sweeping Day)

What Are Shogatsu Kotohajime and Susuharai?

December 13th is "Shogatsu Kotohajime," the day to begin preparing for the New Year. It is a long-standing marker on the calendar, and the day on which "susuharai" -- the soot sweeping that purifies a house before welcoming Toshigami-sama, the deity of the new year -- has traditionally been done. It is also "matsumukae," the day to go into the hills and cut the pine used for New Year decorations. The modern year-end deep clean descends directly from susuharai.

Why December 13?

Under the Senmyo calendar, used in Japan until 1684, the 13th day of the 12th month always fell on the "kishuku" lunar mansion (of a 27-mansion system). The name refers to a day when demons stay in their own lodgings rather than roam about, making it auspicious for everything except weddings -- and therefore a fitting day to begin preparing for the New Year deity. Edo Castle held its own soot sweeping of the castle interior and household altars on this date, and the townspeople of Edo followed suit on the same day. Later calendar reforms broke the alignment between dates and the lunar mansions, but the date itself has been handed down unchanged.

• Susuharai: long bamboo poles with the leaves left on, used to sweep soot from ceilings, beams and hearths
• Matsumukae: gathering pine for the kadomatsu decorations; pine is held to be where the New Year deity alights
• Kagami mochi: traditionally displayed by the 28th; many places avoid the 29th, since the nine can echo the word for suffering
• Oseibo: year-end gifts were properly sent only after Kotohajime

Soot Sweeping at Shrines and Temples

Shrines and temples around Japan still hold their soot sweeping at year-end. At Kyoto's Higashi and Nishi Hongan-ji, the ceremony is held every December 20th: participants beat the tatami with split bamboo and fan the raised dust out of the hall with enormous paper fans -- footage that turns up on the news every year. Sweeping a main hall with long bamboo poles is a different scale from cleaning a house, but it is the same act.

Receiving the New Year Deity

Both the soot sweeping and the pine gathering exist for one purpose: to receive Toshigami-sama, the deity who visits each household at New Year and is said to bring that year's harvest and the family's health. The kadomatsu marks where the deity descends and gives it somewhere to alight; the kagami mochi provides a place to stay; the osechi dishes are offerings later shared by the family. Each New Year custom is a step in hosting the same guest. The premise behind susuharai was that a deity will not enter a dirty house -- which makes the year-end clean less of a chore and more of a preparation.

Tips for Marking This Day

• Do not start with the whole house: one desk drawer today, the entrance hall tomorrow
• Sort things into what you use and what you do not, and check the collection dates for getting rid of the rest before year's end
• Match the cleaner to the grime -- baking soda for greasy range hoods and stovetops, citric acid for the white scale around water fixtures
• Clean windows on an overcast day; in direct sun the cleaner dries too fast and leaves streaks

Even a Deep Clean Has a Starting Date

Rather than scrambling in the last days of December, people used to work through it gradually from the 13th. December 13 is the starting line for the year-end clean.