How to Read “New Year’s decorations are milestones on the journey to the land of the dead”
Kadomatsu wa meido no tabi no ichirizuka
Meaning of “New Year’s decorations are milestones on the journey to the land of the dead”
This proverb means that each time we celebrate the New Year, we take one more step closer to death. Setting up kadomatsu to celebrate the new year also means we’ve passed another milestone on life’s journey.
This expression reminds us of death during what should be a joyful occasion. It serves as a warning not to forget that life is limited. People use it when reflecting on how “another year has passed,” reminding themselves how precious their remaining time is.
Even today, when we look back on the year during the New Year season, we often feel how quickly time flies. This proverb helps us see the passage of time not just as something to celebrate, but as an important turning point in our limited lives.
That’s why it can lead to a positive determination to live each moment fully.
Origin and Etymology
There are various theories about the exact origin of this proverb. However, it appears in documents from the Edo period, so it was likely well-known by that time.
Let’s look at how the words work together. Kadomatsu are lucky decorations placed at gates during New Year. Ichirizuka were markers placed along roads every ri (about 4 kilometers). Travelers used them to measure the distance to their destination. Meido refers to the afterlife.
When these three elements combine, they create a deep meaning that compares life to a journey. The New Year is supposed to be joyful, but viewing it as a signpost on the journey to the land of the dead creates a seemingly contradictory idea. This is the heart of the proverb.
People in the Edo period were conscious of life’s impermanence in their daily lives. Influenced by Buddhist thought, they had a culture that accepted life and death as familiar things.
Because New Year is such a joyful milestone, it actually makes us think about life’s limits. This proverb captures a uniquely Japanese sensibility.
Using an expression about death during the happy beginning of a year shows the depth of our ancestors’ view of life.
Interesting Facts
Ichirizuka were set up nationwide during the Edo period as part of the road system organized by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Travelers counted these markers to calculate how much farther they had to go. The cleverness of this proverb lies in using these concrete distance markers as a metaphor for measuring the time left in life.
Kadomatsu originally served as yorishiro, sacred objects to welcome the New Year deity to the home. Pine is an evergreen tree symbolizing life force, while bamboo symbolizes prosperity through its rapid growth. They’re combinations of lucky symbols.
The twist of viewing these symbols of blessing as signposts to the land of the dead makes this proverb even more striking.
Usage Examples
- This is my 60th New Year. “New Year’s decorations are milestones on the journey to the land of the dead” is really true.
- While writing New Year’s cards, I thought “New Year’s decorations are milestones on the journey to the land of the dead,” and decided to do what I want this year.
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down for so long because it perfectly captures a fundamental human contradiction. We become most aware of time’s passage during moments of joy.
Birthdays, anniversaries, and New Year. These celebrations are certainly happy occasions. But at the same time, somewhere in our hearts we feel “I’ve gotten another year older” or “It’s already been so many years.”
Joy and sadness, celebration and awareness of impermanence coexist in the same moment. This is a complex emotion about time that only humans have.
Our ancestors didn’t look away from this contradictory feeling. Instead, they faced it directly and put it into words. Being conscious of death isn’t a dark thing. Knowing there are limits makes today shine brighter.
If life continued forever, we wouldn’t need to hurry. With tomorrow, next year, and always more time, we’d postpone important things. But each time we pass a milestone, the remaining road gets a little shorter.
Knowing this fact makes people want to live fully in the present.
This proverb encourages us to live life fully by making us conscious of death as an ending. That’s the universal wisdom passed down through the ages.
When AI Hears This
Setting up kadomatsu is actually an attempt to defy a fundamental law of the universe. From the perspective of the law of entropy increase—”everything moves from order to disorder”—cutting pine, splitting bamboo, and arranging them beautifully is imposing artificial order on natural chaos.
Here’s an interesting contradiction. To create the high degree of order in kadomatsu, humans consume large amounts of energy. Gathering materials, processing them, transporting them, and installing them. During this process, the human body extracts energy from food and dissipates it as heat into the surroundings.
In other words, the local increase in order called kadomatsu necessarily accompanies an increase in entropy in the overall environment. In physics, the more you create local order, the faster disorder accelerates in the entire system.
Even more interesting is the arrow of time. The direction of increasing entropy is the direction time flows, and this never reverses. Just as a broken egg can’t be put back together, a past New Year never returns.
Each time we display kadomatsu, we definitely move time forward, approaching death, which is the thermodynamic end state of maximum entropy.
The act of creating order through celebration ironically becomes proof of irreversible time progression.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern people is the importance of being conscious of time’s limits. In modern society surrounded by social media and smartphones, time passes in a flash. Before you know it, a year ends and a new one begins.
In this repetition, are you postponing what you really want to do?
This proverb asks you: How will you live this year? Did you meet the people you wanted to meet? Did you say the words you wanted to say? Did you take on the challenges you wanted to face?
The important thing isn’t to feel gloomy. It’s the opposite. It’s realizing that because time is limited, each day is as precious as a treasure. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Prioritize time with important people. Be honest about what you want to do.
New Year is a perfect opportunity to renew such determination. Each time you see kadomatsu, remember your life’s journey. And imagine what kind of year you want this to be.
Time is beautiful precisely because it’s limited.
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