Celebrating Ōmisoka includes many traditions such as Osoji, which means big cleaning. You are supposed to clean the entire house as a way of welcoming the new year. Another tradition of Ōmisoka is Joya no Kane, which means “throwing away the old and moving on to the new night.” For this tradition Buddhist temeples ring bells for 1-2 hours to encourage people to leave all bad things in the past and look forward to the new year.

Ōmisoka is usually celebrated together with family. A traditional food that is eaten is Toshikoshi Soba, year-passing buckwheat noodles. These noodles are to promise a long life when eaten on New Year's Eve. Osechi Ryori is the set of traditional Japanese food eaten on the very start of the New Year, it is displayed in a bento box sometimes containing 3-4 layers.