In most of the Western world, the days following Christmas is a time of relaxation and enjoying being with family.
In Japan, however, Christmas Day is still a working day for many salarymen and for those at home, the days leading up to New Year's Day are filled with busy work such as 大掃除 oosouji (end-of-year cleaning) and cooking.
New Year's Day comes around and salarymen and homemakers alike can finally enjoy a day of relaxation with family.
What is the end of December like for the salaryman?
Prior to New Year's Day, they are most busy wrapping up the year's workload, contacting and thanking clients for their patronage, and, of course, enjoying (and probably soon regretting) the year end 忘年会 (year-end "forget-the-year" party).
But did you know there is a set time for when work officially ends? This is called:
仕事納め
shigoto osame
Usually, this is around December 28th but can vary if it falls on a weekend.
There is another phrase that is very similar:
御用納め
goyou osame
It also means "year-end office closing."
What's the difference between 仕事納め and 御用納め?
The only difference is 御用納め is used by official governmental offices which is set by law whereas 仕事納め is used by private companies and offices. The 御用 is an Edo Period term used by the 幕府 bakufu Tokugawa government to instruct the court and various provinces when work was to be completed.
Today, government offices are closed from December 29 to January 3.
Of course, private enterprises can choose when to work and when not to work, but for most, the 仕事納め follows the government offices and stops work around December 28th and resumes January 4th. On the lucky years that January 4th falls on a weekend, work could start as late as January 6th!
Vocabulary
大掃除
major cleaning; year-end cleaning
仕事納め
(private enterprise) year-end office closing (usually December 28th - may be different depending on if it falls on the weekend)
御用納め
(governmental) year-end office closing (usually December 28th - may be different depending on if it falls on the weekend)
仕事始め
Work begins after New Year's vacation (usually January 4th)
大納会
the last session of the year; last trading day of the year
大発会
first session (trading day) of the year
年末年始
ew Year's holiday; period of time from the close of the old year to the start of the New Year
休暇
holiday; day off
忘年会
year-end "forget-the-year" party
新年会
New Year's party
