In recent years, a variety of other attractive year-end television programs has been broadcast, so the viewer ratings for the Koohaku Uta Gassen has declined to about 60 percent, but it is a favorite program for thinking back over the passing year and celebrating its close. Each ringing of the bell takes away some of the impurity and ugliness of the passing year, cleansing us in readiness for the New Year. When the joya no kane begins to toll, the atmosphere of New Year's Eve changes completely, from bustle and excitement to quietude and solemnity. The mood in which people greet the New Year is quite different from the extravagant celebrations with toasts and firecrackers that are common in Western countries. As the temples begin to ring out the old year, many people set out to pay their first visit of the year to temples and shrines, hatsumoode .
Some people go to famous places to see the first dawn of the New Year, hatsu hinode .
Temples and shrines all over the country are filled with people and trains run throughout the night to serve hatsumoode travelers. Many people go back to spend New Year's with their parents, often to parents and grandparent's houses in the countryside. In recent years, it has become popular to escape the hectic year-end season by planning family trips overseas. All rights reserved.