On New Year's Eve, families gather
around and eat toshi-koshi ("year-crossing") buckwheat noodles in the
hope that one's life will be stretched out as long as these noodles. As
midnight approaches, Buddhist temples around the country begin ringing out the
old year, sounding the temple bell 108 times that is struck for the 108 earthly desires
believed to cause human suffering. © Motoko Shimizu
