The explosive year-end holidays of a country with few public holidays ――Ho Chi Minh City, the pre-Tet "buzz

How many year-ends has it been since I came to Vietnam? Even though, when I count them up, I've already spent this season here several times, honestly, that full-body reaction of "December 31st is here!" — the way you feel it on New Year's Eve in Japan — still hasn't completely soaked into me. That's because here in Vietnam, the star of the calendar is the lunar one. The real main event of the year-end and New Year is Tết, what we call the "Lunar New Year." The holidays shift every year, and it isn't established as a "fixed New Year ritual" the way it is in Japan, so I've had this lingering sense of "I think I get it, but I still can't quite grasp it." But lately, I feel like the look of the town around Tết has gradually started to sink into my body. Before the calendar does, the air of the streets tells me: "Ah, the year-end is coming again this year." The whole town gets a little restless, looks busy — but looks like it's having fun! Year-end-gift motorbikes come and go along the roads. Motorbikes loaded with gift sets, motorbikes carrying bonsai, motorbikes cradling flowers. If Japan's year-end gifts are packaged parcels delivered by courier, then Vietnam's bare, exposed year-end gifts are "running down the road just as they are.

⚫️ Bonsai heavy with citrus fruit, and peach-blossom bonsai are coming out~ Go to the market and the flowers suddenly multiply. The fruit for New Year's decorations is piled up in mountains too, with watermelons and citrus lined up so bright it's dazzling. Just that alone lets you see the "preparations for the year changing." And then the motorbikes heading home for the holidays. People with big loads strapped on, making their way to their families. There's this feeling of the city suddenly emptying out.

⚫️Heading home to my parents' place, carrying Tết gifts! In 2026, January 16th is New Year's Eve on the lunar calendar, and the 17th is the New Year. Ho Chi Minh City, having officially entered the Tết holiday, is astonishingly quiet. The town that had been so congested with traffic settles down all at once. Just like before and after a storm. On the other hand, the market was bustling from early in the morning. In the midst of the quiet town, only the kitchens are busy at work. Was the year-end and New Year season always like this, I wonder. At the entrance of the apartment complex, the aunties gathered together and started making bánh chưng.

Bánh chưng is an essential traditional dish for Tet, a square rice cake made of glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork wrapped in leaves. Originating in the north, legend says it is "an offering that symbolizes the earth." 【Reference sites】 ・Vietnam Tourism Board: Introduction to Tet culture https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/vietnamese-tet-holiday ・The origin of Bánh chưng (English) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1nh_ch%C6%B0ng I once learned how to make it at a cooking class, but it really takes some skill. Still, the way the aunties handle it is impressive—the deft way they wrap the rice is a bit like how people in Japan roll seaweed rolls with such ease~. The wrapped bánh chưng is simmered over low heat for about half a day. Keeping the fire going, the whole family watches over it.

Late at night, when I passed through an alley, I came across a family who were just simmering bánh chưng. The steam rising from the pot, the voices of the family, and the night at year's end.

⚫️ In a back alley, bánh chưng simmering inside a huge cauldron. It made me realize that the turn of the year isn't a TV event — it's this kind of time spent around a "fire." In Japanese terms, I suppose it's like a child being roped into helping make the osechi New Year's dishes. The whole family prepares for the New Year together. That kind of time flows quietly beneath the surface of the town. My husband has also finished up his work for the year, so we're relaxing a little at home. Since we're planning to travel abroad over the New Year holidays, I handed out just slightly early otoshidama (New Year's money gifts) to the people who have looked after me.

⚫️ I was about to buy more otoshidama envelopes because I was running low, and got lucky—I received some from a dairy company at the supermarket. So cute! These are also for the restaurant staff who took such good care of me this year. Because they truly serve delicious food and provide such pleasant service. Even though it's just a small token amount, their reactions when I hand it over are amazing— An explosion of joy. With a look that says "Wait, for me?" "Really?", they receive it with both hands. So much so that I feel a little embarrassed and want to say, "Oh, there really isn't much in there…" But I'm sure it's not about the amount. It's the surprise of not having expected to receive something from us foreigners.

⚫️ A beaming smile ~ Here's to another great year ~~ Watching it all like this, I realize that the year-end and New Year in Vietnam is a little different from that of Japan. Japan has many public holidays. The end of the year is special, but with the cold weather too, there's a sense of things quietly settling into order. But Vietnam is different. Precisely because it's a country with few holidays, all the energy converges onto that one and only long break. A whole year's worth of "resting," "going home," "celebrating," and "gift-giving" explodes all at once during this season. And so the town is bustling. And so people get restless with excitement. And so the markets heat up too. The stillness of Ho Chi Minh City, the fervor of the markets, and the quiet flame beneath a hotpot in a back alley. The year's end is made not of the calendar, but of people's hands and scents. From a quiet Ho Chi Minh City, the calls to toast are about to begin. I wonder if this country's "bustle" has stopped feeling like someone else's affair. Expat Life Ranking