New year is a very important occasion for Japanese people. But the midnight celebrations are not that crowded and colourful in most of the places. We went to Yokosuka, where US influence is more, to see if there is something really interesting.
On the way, we covered winter illumination in Yokohama port area.
We explored Yokosuka on New Year's Eve, starting from Yokosuka port market where super fresh fish is on sale, including whale meat.
From port market, we were planning to visit Sarushima (monkey island) which is a famous destination in Yokosuka. Unfortunately, ferry was closed due to year end holidays.
We spent time in nearby Mikasa park where memorials of Battleship Mikasa and Marshal-Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, are present.
Next we moved to Dobuita street where we were expecting to see American style shops. Though there were shops in American style, those were also closed due to year end vacations.
New year count down and fireworks are planned in the port near to Verny park. There were lot of food stalls in the park, serving hot soups, grilled meat and many other street foods. Different music bands continued their performance on the stage.
New year count down ended with a big siren sound from the port and fireworks started. There was a real crowd and returning to car parking took big time.
One of the major activities of Japanese people on a new year day, is to visit shrines and temples with family. We could see every shrines and temples crowded with visitors on first of January.
Another interesting activity for Japanese people is their first buy. We went to Akihabara Electric Town to witness the big new year sales. Amazingly, people were grabbing their lucky packs in quick time.
We also celebrated new year in our own way with our Malayalee community in Nasu area.
Wish you all a very happy new year, 2020.
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