It is good luck in the Japanese culture to wear a new pair of underwear for New Year’s Day. As Marie Kondo, denizen of sparking joy, writes on Konmari.com:
“According to feng shui, the underwear you choose to wear on New Year’s Day sets the tone for the whole year. Ever since I found that out, I’ve started off the year wearing brand new, white underwear. White symbolizes new beginnings, so breaking out something white allows me to begin the year feeling refreshed…”
Now, I am all for new beginnings and good luck at the new year, but my initial reaction after I heard this was I thought of Suzuki, the late, great violin pedagogue. When I started violin in the seventies, Suzuki mania was high, having just come to America in 1964. Somehow I couldn’t imagine that Suzuki would wake up on New Year’s Day, and promptly snap on a brand spanking new pair of white undies. And then, it got worse. I thought of Reverend Fuji, a Methodist pastor whom I thought a great deal of. I remember distinctly when one Sunday he said, “When it comes right down to it, what God wants us to do is help our neighbors, that’s it.” That deceptively simple statement has guided me for over 50 years. And again, I could not see Reverend Fuji putting on pristine tighty whities, before donning his black, Sunday gown.
All I can say is: Happy New Year, onward and upward, and long may your elastic last.
I’m Rosie Klepper and that’s my perspective.
