The first sunrise refers to the custom of observing the first sunrise of the year. Such a custom may be just an observation of the sunrise on a special day, or has a religious meaning for those who worship the Sun, such as the followers of traditional religions in Korea and Japan and the

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

, Yupik,

Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

, Chukchi and the

Iñupiat The Inupiat (singular: Iñupiaq), also known as Alaskan Inuit, are a group of Alaska Natives whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States borde ...

in the Arctic Circle, for praying for good luck.

Japan

In Japan, the observation of the first sunrise of the year () on the first day on the

Old Calendar Calendar reform or calendrical reform is any significant revision of a calendar system. The term sometimes is used instead for a proposal to switch to a different calendar design. Principles The prime objective of a calendar is to unambiguo ...

has been part of the traditional Shintoist worship of

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

, the sun goddess. Nowadays, Japanese travel agents arrange trips to observe the earliest first sunrise of the year on the new Gregorian calendar in the easternmost

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total area of but only two of the islands are permanen ...

of the

Japanese archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...

Mongolia

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, there is a custom of observing the first sunrise on the first day of the year at the top of the mountain the Mongolian lunisolar calendar. commonly known as

Tsagaan Sar The Mongolian Lunar New Year, commonly known as Tsagaan Sar ( , or literally White Moon), is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian lunisolar calendar. The festival of the Lunar New Year is celebrated by Mongolic and some T ...

. The holiday has shamanistic influences.

Korea

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, there is also a custom of observing the first sunrise on the first day of the year, either on the traditional Korean calendar or the new calendar.

Pohang Pohang (; ), formerly spelled Po-Hang, is the largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, with a List of cities in South Korea, population of 499,363 as of 2022, bordering the Sea of Japan, East Sea to the east, Yeongcheon to the w ...

Homigot Homigot (, lit. "tiger's tail cape") is a point of land in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea jutting out into the Sea of Japan. Homigot is located to the east of urban Pohang in . The area is home to the Homigot Lighthouse, the tallest light ...

Ulleung County Ulleung County () is a county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Ulleung County has a population of 10,426 making it the least populated county in South Korea. Ulleung County consists mainly of the island of Ulleungdo and 44 smaller isl ...

and Jeongdongjin are famous place to watch first sunrise.

Canada, Greenland, Russia and the United States

In the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

circle, the

, Yupik,

, Chukchi and the

observe the first sunrise on the first day of the year () by extinguishing three

qulliq The qulliq or kudlik (, ; ; ), is the traditional oil lamp used by many circumpolar peoples, including the Inuit, the Chukchi and the Yupik peoples. The fuel is seal-oil or blubber, and the lamp is made of soapstone. A is lit with a stick c ...

s and relighting them. This is to honour the sun and moon.

References

External links