The traditional start of year-end preparations (shōgatsu junbi). Temples and shrines undertake the ceremonial sweeping of accumulated soot and dust, most famously at Kyoto’s Nishi Honganji where monks use giant bamboo brooms to clean the massive wooden halls. The practice is both practical and spiritual: physical dirt symbolizes accumulated spiritual impurity (kegare) of the passing year. Households also begin their annual deep cleaning (ōsōji), understanding that a purified space is necessary to properly receive the toshigami who will arrive at New Year.