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New Year 2025: Date, Public Holidays and Japanese Traditions

New Year’s Day 2025 fell on Wednesday, January 1. Official schedules in selected jurisdictions show different holiday scopes, while Japan’s customs provide a distinct cultural perspective.

By ThatPainter Team 2 min read
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New Year’s Day 2025 fell on Wednesday, January 1. Whether it was a public holiday—and which workers or institutions it covered—depended on the jurisdiction. Japan’s New Year customs offer one distinct cultural perspective on the holiday.

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What date was New Year’s Day 2025?

New Year’s Day was Wednesday, January 1, 2025. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower both list that date and weekday in their 2025 schedules.

Was January 1, 2025 a public holiday?

It was listed as a holiday in the official schedules of the jurisdictions below, but the scope differed. These examples do not establish rules for every country or guarantee that private businesses were closed.

Jurisdiction What the official schedule says Scope or workplace detail
United States OPM lists New Year’s Day on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. The schedule concerns federal employees; it does not guarantee private businesses close. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service notice states, in its agency context, “Federal law establishes the following as legal public holidays: New Year’s Day, January 1”.
China The State Council’s 2025 public-holiday schedule lists New Year’s Day for one day, January 1. The cited schedule identifies the official public holiday; it does not specify private-employer arrangements here.
Singapore The Ministry of Manpower lists Wednesday, January 1, 2025, as New Year’s Day in its 2025 public-holiday schedule. The Ministry says employers and employees may mutually agree to substitute a public holiday for another working day.
United Arab Emirates A federal circular issued December 20, 2024 set the New Year’s holiday for Wednesday, January 1, 2025; official work resumed Thursday, January 2. The circular applies to ministries and federal entities, not necessarily every employer. See the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources circular.
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How is New Year observed in Japan?

New Year’s Day, or 元日, is January 1. Japan’s Cabinet Office describes it as “The day to celebrate the beginning of the year.” The holiday was among nine national holidays established when the 1948 holiday law was enacted. In its account of a January 1948 government survey, the Cabinet Office reports that 99.9 percent of respondents selected New Year as suitable for a public holiday; that is a historical survey result, not a measure of current opinion. See the Cabinet Office’s explanation of 元日.

A January 2025 feature from the Japanese Government’s Public Relations Office describes customs related to food, clothing, and shelter. Its topics include osechi cuisine, herbal sake, indoor decorations, traditional performing arts, and kite flying. These are Japanese examples, not universal New Year practices; the feature introduces them without establishing how widely each is observed today. Read New Year’s Issue 2025: Celebrating a Bright New Year in Japan.

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What to take from the 2025 schedules

  • The date was Wednesday, January 1.
  • Holiday status and coverage depend on the jurisdiction and, in some cases, the type of employer or institution.
  • Japan’s cultural traditions should be understood in their specific national context rather than treated as customs shared everywhere.

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