At the top of Mount Fuji in Japan

© Nopasorn Kowathanakul/Getty Image

The sun rises on a new year. New Year’s Day in the land of the rising sun

Watching the first sunrise of a new year is a tradition for some, and in Japan, it’s an event. Crowds gather on mountaintops or beaches to get beautiful, unobstructed views of the new year’s first daybreak. The hikers in this photo are gathered on Japan’s Mount Fuji to watch the sunrise, but in a warmer time of year. Highly skilled mountaineers have been known to summit Mount Fuji on New Year’s Day, but dangerously high winds and bitterly cold temperatures make the peak of Mount Fuji on January 1 off limits to most of us. Of course, you don’t have to get to Japan and climb Fuji or any other mountain to watch the new year sun peek over the horizon. Maybe you are still awake from your New Year’s Eve celebration and can enjoy the sunrise just before you retire for the first official nap of 2019. Let’s make it a good one!