Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 1
Read the story. 英文を読もう。
1At the end of December, homes, schools, and offices across Japan get a big cleaning. This is called oosouji, which means big cleaning. People wash windows, wipe floors, and throw away things they do not need. The goal is to start the new year in a clean place. Students clean their classrooms, too, before the winter break begins.
2This custom is very old. Long ago, houses had open fires, so the ceilings turned black with soot. Before New Year, people swept the soot away to welcome the New Year god. This was called susuharai, or soot sweeping. It was done on December 13, the day to start getting ready for New Year.
3In the Edo period, shops in old Tokyo had a funny custom. After the cleaning, workers threw people up into the air to celebrate. Then everyone ate a hot soup with whale meat. Some people found old pictures and news sheets inside paper sliding doors, and they stopped cleaning to read them!
4The end of the year is busy in other ways, too. Government offices finish work around December 28 and open again in January. People also write New Year cards, called nengajo. If you mail them by about December 25, they arrive on the morning of January 1. After all this work, people say goodbye with a special phrase, Yoi otoshi o, or have a good New Year.
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 2
Choose the best answer. 正しいものを選ぼう。
What is the main idea of the passage?
Why did ceilings in old houses turn black?
When was susuharai done in the past?
In paragraph 3, what does "threw people up into the air" show?
In the dialogue, when do people in England usually do a big cleaning?
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 3
Words & phrases. 単語のれんしゅう。
Cleaning Day
It is December 28. Kaito and his family clean the whole (1) . His father washes the (2) . His mother cleans the (3) . Kaito throws away old (4) from his desk. He finds a funny (5) from first grade and laughs. In the evening, everything is (6) . His grandmother says, "Now the New Year god can (7) !"
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 4
Read the clues and fill in the puzzle. ヒントを読んで、クロスワードを完成させよう。
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 5
Find the hidden words. かくれた単語を探そう（→ ↓ ↘ ↗）。
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 6
Collect the letters on the right path. What is the secret word? 正しい道の文字を集めると、ひみつの言葉になるよ。
Secret word:
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 7
Before New Year, I want to clean ______ because ______.
In my New Year card, I will write, "______."
Year-End Cleaning & Customs · Worksheet 8
Trace the words. Then color the picture! なぞって書こう。絵に色を塗ろう。
Draw your Year-End Cleaning & Customs! 大掃除と年末の行事（仕事納め・年賀状）の絵を描こう。