New Year's shimenawa decoration
A traditional Japanese New Year decoration made from shimenawa rope, often hung on gates, entrances, or shrines to ward off evil spirits and welcome the New Year. Related to 注連縄 (shimenawa).
See also: しめ縄
We welcome the New Year by hanging a shimekazari decoration at the entrance.
The shimekazari at the shrine is replaced every year.
しめ飾り is a sacred Shinto rope decoration also displayed at New Year's, while 門松 is a pine-and-bamboo arrangement placed at the entrance to welcome ancestral spirits.
Most common and easily understood spelling; uses kana for the first part to avoid rare kanji.
Standard kanji spelling, but the characters 注連 are uncommon and may be difficult to read.
Abbreviated kanji form without okurigana; rarely used.
Ateji spelling using the characters for 7-5-3; very uncommon.
Alternate kanji spelling; rarely encountered.
The word combines しめ (from 注連, referring to the sacred shimenawa rope) and 飾り (decoration). The exact origin of しめ is uncertain, but it is associated with marking sacred boundaries in Shinto.