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The first day of January arrived over a month sooner than it should have in 1873. In its rush to go Western, the Meiji government had declared that the lunar calendar would be phased out in favor of the Gregorian model. This was nothing new to Japanese farmers, whose lives had long revolved around the sun. Their calendar, divided into twelve perfectly equal 30.44-day periods called setsu, already corresponded closely to the Gregorian concept, although it had originated with ancient Chinese astrologists rather than Pope Gregory Xlll. The rest of the country had been marking the passage of time with a twelve-month cycle based on the moon, to which a thirteenth month was periodically added to realign the civil year with the changing seasons of the natural year.

Informally, the months of the lunar year went by rather fanciful names derived from a natural phenomenon or seasonal custom. The second was Kisaragi, the month of donning extra layers of clothes to stave off the increasingly cold weather; and the fifth was Satsuki, the month of planting rice sprouts. Fuzuki or Fumizuki, the month of swelling rice or the month of poetry writing, was the seventh. The tenth was Kannazuki, the month of no gods, when all the gods from throughout the country gather at Izumo Taisha. Shiwasu, the last, was the month of running priests, busily presiding over year-end ceremonies.

For a Heian court lady or nobleman, much of a normal year was spent attending ceremonial occasions and celebratory events. According to Sei Shonagon in The Pillow Book, her account of aristocratic life in the tenth century, one highlight of the new year's season was Tooth-hardening Day. On this day, a selection of solid foods thought to strengthen the teeth would be prepared by the Imperial Table Office. These were likely to include radish, ayu, and rice cakes, all of which were served on yuziriha leaves. In the process of nibbling away at the buffet, it was hoped that nourishment would be boosted and overall health improved. (The gradual falling away of this custom may explain the often heard plaint that the influx of hamburgers and other bread-based Western food has weakened the jaws and chewing power of the younger generation.)