A family cleans the home in advance of the New Year celebrations. Cleaning is a major part of preparing for the New Year as Shinto beliefs place much importance on purity.
This image is part of The New Year in Japan, a book published by Kobe-based photographer Kozaburo Tamamura in 1906. Original text1:
A preliminary to the coming of the New Year is a general “spring cleaning,” as our friends term it. The interior and exterior of every domicile is cleaned and re-decorated. Warehouses and business houses all undergo a similar “clean out,” and we get ready for a new lease on life.
See all New Year images on Old Photos of Japan.
Notes
1 Tamamura, Kozaburo (1906). The New Year in Japan. Tamamura Shashinkan.
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Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). Kobe, 1906: New Year Celebrations 1, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on October 24, 2025 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/682/new-year-celebrations-1
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