New Years
The Japanese celebrate New Years  from the evening of  December 31 to January 3. Then, a Japanese family will start the coming of the new year with a meal of buckwheat noodles.

The Japanese believe that because the noodles are long if they eat them it may bring them a long life.  At the stroke of midnight on December 31, families all over Japan listen for the bell sounds from the temple.  Most Japanese listen for the bells from their home on T.V.  Many Japanese believe that humans contain 108 sins, and because of this the bell rings 108 times to chase the sins away.Later on the families make their first visit to a shrine or temple to start off the new year.

Star Festival
The Star Festival or the Tanabata Festival is celebrated on July 7.  Many Japanese celebrate this to celebrate the love of two celestial stars who feel in love and were  punished for neglecting their heavenly duties. Because the stars neglected their duties they were seperated by the Milky Way, and the stars are only allowed to meet on this day with eachother.  In honor of the stars, many young people parade through the streets of Japan carrying laterns, colorful streamers, and bamboo poles decorated with strips of paper on which love poems have been written.

Valentine's Day
In Japan, Valentine's Day is day of which women show their love to men. Thisholiday is celebrated on February 14.   Unlike in the United States,  the Japanese women give the Japanese men chocolates and sweet heart gifts. Valentine's day is not an offical holiday in Japan.

White Day
White day is just like Valentine's Day which is celebrated in the United States.  White Day is celebrated on March 14 which is only a month after Valentine's Day.  On this day, Japanese Men give the Japanese women chocolates and other gifts to show their affection.  White Day is not an official Japanese holiday.

Weddings
In Japan there are three main types of weddings.  There is the more tradiotional Shinto and Buddishist weddings or the new western influenced Christian weddings.

Shinto weddings date as far back as Japanese history and still are recognized as the more often used wedding.  The Shinto wedding carries many authentic Japanese customs.  The  "Mia-Ai" is one custom of a Shinto wedding. "Mia-Ai" is an interview for a man and woman with a view to marriage, as arranged by their parents or a third party acting as a gobetween.  However, many Japanese are getting married on the view of love this custom is only used to allow a happy married life end.  The Shinto wedding is performed before a Shinto sanctuary or a Shinto shrine.  Usually the wedding consists of the Shinto preist, the couple getting married, the two sets of parents, close family memebers, and the gobetween.