While a Bonenkai is a gathering to say good-bye to the year that’s ending, a shinnenkai welcomes the new year. Bonenkai are more common than shinnenkai, but shinnenkai are a great way to celebrate the new year (and new decade!) with others.
In a shinnenkai, friends and co-workers take the opportunity to express their wishes for each other’s good luck and good fortune in the coming year. Shinenkai* are forward-looking celebrations, as opposed to the bonenkai in December that say good-bye to the ending year. The warm feeling of goodwill is, of course, cemented with a healthy dose of alcohol. And so, normal drinking protocol applies.
If the company sponsors the shinnenkai, it could be held on the company premises and would usually be a little more serious. A high-level person in the company (or department) will often make a speech with a focus on corporate goals for the coming year. Then to make it more lighthearted, they may provide some traditional entertainment which may include kagamiwari, breaking open a sake barrel with a wooden hammer and sharing the contents.
To have even more fun, the new employees may be enlisted to provide the entertainment, sometimes competing against other departments. Unlike their serious workhours, Japanese partying can be very silly and lots of fun. Because of the emphasis on humility, it’s very easy for Japanese to make fun of themselves, creating a stronger bond along with the laughter.
If the shinnenkai is among friends or a smaller group of co-workers, it’s likely to take place at an informal pub-like izakaya where drinks and dishes are ordered for the table, and the cost is divided up evenly. As with any Japanese drinking get-together, the partying may continue at a second location–a nijikai.
If the gathering is company-sponsored, there is a formal closing so people know when to leave. Generally, this would be the ipponjime or sanbonjime synchronized handclapping rhythm that everyone participates in. Ipponjime is one set, while the sanbonjime is three sets. In between, some persons will say, “yoi.” It goes something like this:
The person in charge says something like, “Ote o haishaku” (lend me your hands). Everyone claps this rhythm together:
Handclaps 3-3-3-1
-yoi-
Handclaps 3-3-3-1
-yoi-
Handclaps 3-3-3-1
-yoi-
Then everyone will bow and say, “Omedetoo gozaimasu.”
Happy New Year to you!
