Happy New Year of the Wild Boar!

by NION Berlin January 7, 2019
Happy New Year of the Wild Boar!

What’s the Year of the Wild Boar about? Furthermore, NION Community Member Birgit Severin and NION co-founder, Naho got to experience New Year traditions in Japan.

There is another calendar system called “Eto-Jūnishi” in Japan. It’s a cycle of 12 years, each of which is represented by a different animal. The 12th one, Wild Boar, is a symbol of persistency, diligence, stubbornness, straightforwardness, recklessness, and bullheadedness. It’s a year to charge up and dash into your goals.

For NION Community, 2018 was a year of the beginning. We opened NION Base a year ago, kicked off our weekly community meeting in February, and slowly formed a team to design and operate our biggest community outreach so far, NION Week. It was held last September and showcased multiple aspects of NION’s vision: learning to reconnect to our own body for city life, listening to Berliner’s voice for a desired Kiez, brainstorming a new opportunity for multi-lingual kids, introducing Japanese food culture, to mention a few. We are delighted to have met amazing community members thanks to NION Week and looking forward to dive into more tangible actions together in 2019.

New Year Traditions in Japan

A few of us got to experience New Year traditions in Japan. Berlin-based designer duo, Birgit and Guillaume, are going to start their artist in residence program in Kyoto hosted by the Goethe Institute. Beforehand, they stopped by at NION co-founder, Naho’s home, smacked their lips over Osechi (new year feast), visited a local shrine for Hatsu-Moude (first prayer of the year), pounded sticky rice in a mortar to make Mochi (rice cake), and went hiking in woods for Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing).

NION and our partners in Kyoto fully support them in their art project, which is about a spirited way of cleaning in Japan. Soon, they will share their experiences here on our website.

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