Year-end general cleaning Coloring Pages

Special cleaning at the end of the year

Year-end general cleaning means cleaning your whole house even more carefully than usual in December, at the end of the year.
You clean away a whole year's worth of dirt and dust from places you don't usually reach, like the ceiling, windows, and behind furniture.
When the inside of your house gets clean, you feel refreshed and ready to welcome the new year!

To welcome the New Year god

In the past, people believed that a god named "Toshigami-sama" came to their homes at the New Year.
Toshigami-sama is a god who brings happiness and rich harvests for the year.
Year-end general cleaning was originally an event to welcome this god into a clean home.
Long ago, it was called Susu-harai, and people brushed away the soot and dust that built up inside their houses.

Let's gather the cleaning tools

The first page shows pictures of tools used for cleaning.
There is a broom to sweep the floor, a dustpan to collect trash, a bucket with water, a rag, and even a sponge.
The tool in the front with long strips of cloth on the end of a stick is a duster.
You use it to dust off dirt from high places with a light tapping sound.

Make the windows shiny by helping out

On the second page, two children are helping out.
One child is on a step stool wiping a glass window, and the other is crouching down to wipe the floor with a rag.
They are wearing bandanas on their heads so dust doesn't get in their hair.
The trees outside the window have lost their leaves, showing a winter scene.

The whole family is super busy

The third page is a picture of the whole family doing Year-end general cleaning in a tatami room.
The dad is standing on a step stool and dusting near the ceiling with a duster.
The mom is carrying a shoji screen that was removed to get new paper.
The boy is sweeping the tatami with a broom, and the girl is wiping the porch floor with a rag.
Try to find the trash bag in the corner, the box with stacked books, and the pine tree and stone lantern in the garden!

Decorate for New Year after Year-end general cleaning

Once your house is clean from Year-end general cleaning, it is finally time for New Year decorations!
People display Kadomatsu and Shimekazari at the entrance, and set out Kagami Mochi in the room.
Many homes finish decorating by around December 28.
People avoid decorating on the 29th because the number "9" sounds like the word for "hardship."

Color Every Tool a Different Color

For the tools on the first page, color each one in a different color to make it fun and lively!
Try light blue or red for the bucket, yellow or green for the dustpan, and yellow for the sponge.
Use ocher for the broom bristles. For the bubbles around it, you can leave them white, or trace just the edges with light blue.

Match the Bandanas and Aprons

For the children on the second page, it would be so cute to match their bandanas and aprons in pink or light blue!
Color the window glass with a little bit of light blue, drawing quick diagonal lines to make it look shiny and bright.

Color the Tatami Mats and Woodwork

On the third page, color the tatami mats light yellow-green and the mat edges in a dark color to make it look like a real room.
Use light brown for the wooden pillars and shoji paper screen frames, and leave the shoji paper white.
Color the clothes for the four family members in different colors so you can easily spot who is who!
Color the pine tree in the garden dark green and the sky light blue to make a clear winter day.

Add Dust and Bubbles for Cleaning Fun

Make the feather duster fun by using bright, bold colors like red or yellow!
You can leave the cleaning cloth white, or make it cute with light blue or yellow.
Lightly color the water in the bucket on the second page with light blue.
Change the shade slightly for each wooden floorboard to make them look like real wood grains.
If you draw tiny white stars with a white pen on the sparkling window and floor, it will look super clean!

It Used to Be on December 13th

In the Edo period, soot sweeping was done at Edo Castle every year on December 13th.
This day was considered "Shogatsu Kotohajime," the day people started getting ready for the New Year.
Even today, some temples and shrines do their soot sweeping around this day.

Soot Sweeping at Big Temples

Every December at big temples in Kyoto, lots of people do soot sweeping by tapping the tatami mats with long bamboo poles to get the dust out.
They use huge hand fans to blow the dust outside.

The Secret Is Doing It on a Warm Day

Dirt gets hard and tricky to clean off in the cold winter.
If you do your Year-end general cleaning on a sunny, warm afternoon, wiping things with a wet cloth is much easier, and the windows dry faster too.

Replacing Shoji Paper

In old-style houses, people often replaced the paper on shoji sliding doors during Year-end general cleaning.
That is why the mom is carrying a shoji door in the third picture.
When peeling off the old paper, poking holes through it with their fingers was a fun little job for kids!