Southern California’s Japanese communities celebrate New Year with Oshogatsu festivals

LITTLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Members of Southern California’s Japanese community celebrated the New Year with Oshogatsu festivals and prayers for good luck in 2024.

Some gathered at the historic Koyasan Buddhist Temple in LA’s Little Tokyo to pray to the Buddha.

“We’ve been doing this for many, many years,” said Richard Narumi, president of the temple’s board. “On a good weather day like today we’ll have a line all the way down the driveway up to the wooden tower, sometimes even past that.”

Along with the prayers, the New Year tradition also brings the community together to see what fortune to expect in 2024.

Volunteer Kirie Ventura was selling some Omikuji, or random fortunes written on pieces of paper.

“Basically there’s a spectrum of luck that you’re drawing from,” Ventura explained. “It could be really, really bad luck or really, really good luck, like ‘big luck’ as they call it. If you don’t like the luck you get, you tie it up here and the temple will take care of it by burning it for you.”