The Year of the Rabbit ascends as The Year of the Tiger descends. 🐇

#HappyNewYear #正月 #Shogatsu #DoreiBell #Shimekazari #YearOfTheRabbit

This is actually the more traditional kind. You’ll often see this on more ‘traditional’ Japanese shops. Each part of the decoration has a meaning (which I’ve mostly forgotten… but mostly fertility and longevity).

#JapaneseNewYear #ShimeKazari #Nenmatsu #OShogatsu

Here's another quirky purchase from our #Japan holiday -- a #shimekazari! It's a new year #decoration that's hung on doors. At first, we thought of it as a quasi souvenir, #CNY thing, but the soft smells of igusa remind us everyday of the tatami in the Ryokan we stayed during our #holiday. The strips of paper represent rain and lightning... Guess it brought that here in Singapore too.