In Boston, New York, Shanghai, and Denver, Sasaki gathered to celebrate the Lunar New Year in all four of the firm’s offices. Also known as the First Full Moon Festival and Spring Festival, the holiday is celebrated all over the continent of Asia and is a time for gathering with family and friends, expressing creativity and craftsmanship, and connecting with your community.
Sasaki is a place that embraces and celebrates unique individuals and cultures. Our Lunar New Year celebration is just one of many cultural High Holidays hosted at the office—a fun and informative way to engage the whole Sasaki community in the cultures that make our firm such a special place.
“Celebrating Lunar New Year is an example of how Sasaki values coming together to learn about one another and honor our diverse cultural traditions,” says Sasaki CEO James Miner. “Everyone was happy to be able to gather in our new Boston headquarters and connect with our other offices virtually to celebrate this holiday that is meaningful to so many Sasakians.”
While countries across Asia celebrate Lunar New Year in similar ways, there are slight variations in rituals and festivities from region to region. Sasakians learned from their fellow coworkers about the history of the holiday and how it’s celebrated in China and Korea. Together in person and via Zoom, Sasaki’s Boston, New York, and Denver offices gathered to play games, make crafts, eat traditional food, and solve riddles crowdsourced leading up to the event. (Give it a try: What disappears as soon as you name it? Scroll to the bottom to see the answer.)
Sasakians learned how to make origami figures, painted red squares with Mandarin characters meaning “fortune,” and competed at Pitch-Pot, a game that involves throwing sticks into large, ornate canisters.
There was an abundance of food and drinks from across Asia, including Bibimbap, Moon Cakes, Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls), Boreuma (a collection of nuts), and dumplings. Drinks included Tsingtao Beer, soju, a sour plum drink, and green, chrysanthemum, green, and oolong tea.
The First Full-Moon Festival is thought to have become a significant festival in China as early as the Western Han Dynasty, so members of the Denver office wore Han Dynasty Clothing, called “Han Fu 汉服.”Â
Saskians decorated their offices with lanterns, rabbits, and more.
Riddle solution: Silence.