OTOSHIDAMA JAPANESE NEW YEARS CULTURE
Otoshidama is a monetary gift presented to children at the New Year. The amount of money varies with the age of children and family circumstances. Average total amount of monetary gifts elementary and secondary school children is about 30,000 yen. (1991, Nihon Seimei)
Formerly, otoshidama was a custom of exchanging gifts for the New Year -among nobles and warriors in the late Muromachi Era (1336-1573). Monetary gifts to children became more prevalent in the Meiji Era over a century ago.