New Year's Day Being Celebrated by Japanese

[Photo caption]: Girls Wearing Their New Gowns. Two daughters of members of the Japanese Commercial Club, the Misses Kinuko Nakatani and Yasuko Nakata, wearing their new gowns for the Japanese-American New Year's Day.

While Seattle is celebrating New Year's today will have particular significance for the city's residents whose native land is Japan, for New Year's is the day of all days to the Japanese, who celebrate it more generally than any other day of the year.

Last year on the Japanese islands there was no celebration on account of the nation being in mourning for their former emperor. This year, however, the royal palace will be thrown wide open and royalty will entertain.

Ancient Custom Renewed.

In Seattle the Japanese residents, separated from their native land by the broad Pacific, will follow the ancient custom of their ancestors. New Year's to them is the annual visiting day and the Oriental Easter.

Old clothes are discarded and resplendent new raiment is donned, while the day is spent in a round of visits to the homes of friends. In Japan the women wear the finest silk-embroidered kimonos, while the men wear a more somber black, but all are brand-new. Here the kimonos will appear, but only in the homes.

At every home a feast is spread and as the callers arrive they sample the delicacies. "Back to nature" is one of the keynotes of the Japanese New Year observance. Fancy or highly seasoned modern dishes are frowned upon and the bill of fare dates back thousands of years.

Orthodox Japanese Menu.

Here is the orthodox menu that may only be found on the tables of many Japanese homes in Seattle today:

Tara Suimono
(Salted codfish soup)
Tamago Sake
(Dried salmon eggs).
Ebi
(Lobster).
Mochi
(Dried rice cakes).
Mame
(Boiled peas).
Kaki-Mikan
(Persimmons and oranges).

Old scores are wiped out, old clothes cast off, and the Japanese begin a real new year with their "shinnen de omedetoh" (a new year of happiness), the universal greeting.