Happy New Year from SoraNews24!

Congratulations, it’s 2021!

Shinnen akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

That’s how you say “Happy New Year” in Japanese. The literal translation, though, is “Congratulations on the new year starting,” and with 2020 throwing so many curveballs (and uppercuts) at us, congratulations definitely seem in order for everybody on making it through the past 12 months.

That’s not to say it was all bad, though. Japan’s ingenious kitchen gadgets and amazing takeout options took some of the sting out of fewer restaurant dining opportunities. Free Ghibli anime backgrounds let us add some extra personality to our video chat sessions, and we saw some inspiring creativity from tech-savvy kids and Pokémon-playing fish (yes, fish) that brought us together in spirit even if we couldn’t all be in the same room.

As we start 2021, we’re taking the day off to relax, possibly use the beginning of the Year of the Ox/Cow as an excuse to treat ourselves to a nice, juicy protection-from-evil burger, and count our blessings, which absolutely include the support of readers like you.

Thank you for visiting SoraNews24 in 2020, and we hope you’ll be back many times in the year ahead!

Top image ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Credit: