Across
- 1. New Year postcards sent to family and friends. They include kind messages and are delivered on January 1st.
- 4. A popular music show on New Year’s Eve where famous singers perform in a red team vs. white team competition.
- 11. A straw decoration hung on doors to keep bad spirits away and invite good luck.
- 13. A New Year decoration made of two rice cakes stacked on top of each other with a small orange on top. It brings good luck and represents long life and family happiness.
- 14. Lucky bags sold by shops with surprise items inside. The items are worth more than the price of the bag.
- 15. Watching the first sunrise of the year. It is believed to bring good luck for the New Year.
Down
- 2. Paper fortunes picked at shrines or temples. If you get bad luck, you tie the paper at the shrine to leave the bad luck behind.
- 3. Wooden plaques at shrines where people write their wishes for the year. They are hung up for the gods to see.
- 5. Money given to children in small, decorated envelopes. It’s a New Year gift to wish them good luck.
- 6. A wooden paddle, sometimes used in a game, but often displayed as a decoration for New Year.
- 7. The first visit to a shrine or temple in the New Year. People pray for a good year ahead.
- 8. Special New Year food served in stacked boxes. Each dish has a meaning, like wishing for health, happiness, or success.
- 9. Writing the first calligraphy of the year. People write good words or phrases as wishes for the New Year.
- 10. A decoration placed outside homes, made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes plum branches. It welcomes gods and brings good luck.
- 12. Buckwheat noodles eaten on New Year’s Eve. The long noodles symbolize a long, healthy life, and eating them is thought to leave bad luck behind.