元旦(がんたん)

がんたん
noun
New Year's Day; the morning of January 1st
time-period
See also: 元日(がんじつ) (January 1st (whole day))
1. New Year's Day; the morning of January 1st
Strictly refers to the morning of January 1st, though in modern usage it is often used to mean all of January 1st. The character 旦(たん) originally means dawn or morning.
元旦(がんたん)に初詣(はつもうで)に行(い)く。
I go to a shrine on New Year's Day.
元旦(がんたん)の朝(あさ)は家族(かぞく)でおせち料理(りょうり)を食(た)べる。
On the morning of New Year's Day, we eat osechi cuisine as a family.
年賀状(ねんがじょう)には「元旦(がんたん)」と書(か)くのが一般的(いっぱんてき)だ。
It is common to write "gantan" on New Year's cards.

元旦(がんたん) strictly refers to the morning of January 1st, not the whole day. The character 旦(たん) depicts the sun rising above the horizon, representing dawn. However, in modern usage, many people use 元旦(がんたん) to refer to all of January 1st.

Common collocations

Related words

元日(がんじつ) refers to the entire day of January 1st. 正月(しょうがつ) refers to the broader New Year period (typically the first few days of January). On New Year's cards, 元旦(がんたん) is commonly printed as a closing mark, meaning "delivered on New Year's morning."

general
Added 2026.3.4 14:22 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
14500/14874_gantan