Bounenkai of Recent Article

What is Bounenkai?

I introduce an interesting web page about "Bounenkai" that is one of the strange customs of Japan to you.
I explain to you by using the photograph because there is no photograph in that web page.

Bonenkai(忘年会) can be translated literally as "forget-the-year party."

People gather at izakaya (Japanese-style bars) to think back on the past year and hope that the coming year will be a good one.
It may sound like a serious gathering, but most "bonenkai" actually turn out to be occasions to get drunk and party.
As a result of bonenkai, there's another thing we get to see more often in December "yopparai", or drunks.

 

Why do the Japanese have to get so drunk?

Many foreigners say "Why do the Japanese have to get so drunk?"

Yes, as this comment shows, it's not rare in Japan to see people who are so terribly drunk that they can't help sleeping on the train back home and missing their stops; then they throw up on a train platform or even in a train (excuse me for having to introduce such a gross topic!); or even sleep over in the street or on a platform until the next morning.