Animal Crossing New Horizons: January Overview

January in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the first month of a whole new year. The month, and indeed the year, starts off with a bang with the New Year’s Countdown. Things might wind down after that, but there’s plenty to do. There’s new fish and bugs to find, plus a last chance to grab those that might soon disappear for a while! There’s also plenty of birthdays to keep an eye out for. You’ve also got the Fishing Tournament to look forward to, and the Bug Off in the southern hemisphere.

Let’s jump right in and see what the month of January has to offer for New Horizons.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.

January Events

What’s happening in January in New Horizons? Quite a few things, in fact. 

New Year’s Countdown

Occurs: December 31st – January 1st

Hemisphere: Both

Although the countdown officially takes place at the very end of December, it runs into January 1st, so the event is included for this month, and this guide.

• On New Year’s Eve, you can head over to the village square at Resident Services to take part in the New Year’s Countdown.
• A clock counting down to midnight will be displayed outside Resident Services.
• You can also purchase New Year’s hats and poppers from Isabelle and Tom Nook.
• From 11pm, villagers will gather for the countdown.
• Once the clock strikes midnight, a marvelous fireworks display will begin, lasting until 2am.
• Note that Resident Services will be closed all day on December 31st. It will reopen on January 1st.

Start a new year with the big New Year’s Countdown.

Watch the Sun Rise and Set

Occurs: January 1st

Hemisphere: Both

Watching the sun rise and set on the 1st of January is a tradition in some places in the world, and you can experience it too in New Horizons.

• Exclusively on January 1st, you will get to see the sun as it rises and sets. This is a rare once-a-year event in New Horizons.
• For the sun rise, load your game before 7am on January 1st. You’ll see the sun until it disappears around 8.30am.
• For the sun set, the sun will reappear from 4pm, finally sinking into the horizon at around 5.30pm. For the full sun set, you can watch it until about 6pm.
• Throughout the day on January 1st, the light seems brighter than normal, and the shadows will look longer.

Seeing the sun on the 1st of January in New Horizons is a sight to behold.

New Year’s Items

Occurs: Until January 5th

Hemisphere: Both

As it’s New Year’s Day, you can buy exclusive New Year’s items to celebrate.

• From late December until early January, you can buy New Year’s items from Nook Shopping.
• Some items you can buy every year, while others are exclusive to the year you’re playing in, namely the Zodiac Figurines.

Items are available to party into the New Year.

Shōgatsu

Occurs: 1st – 5th

Hemisphere: Both

There’s more New Year’s stuff you can get, if you can’t get enough of it. There’s also some traditional Japanese New Year’s items to grab. There are 5 of these, and they are:

• Kadomatsu – 2,580 Bells
• Kagamimochi – 1,800 Bells
• New Year’s Shimekazari – 2,000 Bells
• Osechi – 5,000 Bells
• Otoshidama Envelope – 500 Bells

Get some traditional Japanese New Year’s items while you can.

Festive Series Ends

Occurs: Until January 6th

Hemisphere: Both

Since Toy Day has been and gone, by this time, you’ve probably got your fill of festivities surrounding the season. 

• On January 6th, the Festive series will end in New Horizons. This means you can no longer shake ornaments out of trees.
• The lights on the pine trees will also come down on this date.
• Make sure you gather as many ornaments as you can before they disappear for your Festive DIY recipes.

The Festive Series ends near the beginning of January, as Toy Day is left behind.

Nanakusa Gayu

Occurs: January 5th – 7th

Hemisphere: Both

This is a single Nook Shopping edible item available for a very brief period of time.

• You can buy Nanakusa Gayu from Nook Shopping for 1,200 Bells for a short period of time.
• This is a porridge of rice with seven herbs, traditionally eaten to celebrate the occasion Jinjitsu.
• Eating this dish gives you 5 energy points.

Fishing Tournament

Occurs: Second Saturday of January

Hemisphere: Both

The first Fishing Tournament of the year.

• Starts at 9am and ends at 6pm.
• Look out for C.J. and complete his challenges for unique rewards.
• You can also sell fish to him for higher-than-normal prices.

The Fishing Tournament will take place in both hemispheres, but not the Bug Off.

Big Game Celebration

Occurs: January 15th – February 15th

Hemisphere: Both

There’s no actual Big Game in New Horizons, unfortunately, but there are some cool Big Game Celebration items you can get with Nook Shopping. 

• You can buy a Football Rug for 2,000 Bells, as well as a Cheer Megaphone for 1,500 Bells.
• The Megaphone comes in 4 different designs, and you can blow on them to make a loud noise.

Hype up for the Big Game with megaphones and a football rug.

Bug Off

Occurs: Third Saturday of January

Hemisphere: South Only

For southern hemisphere players only, you get your first Bug Off of the year. There’s no Bug Off in the northern hemisphere, at least not yet. It’s winter, so bugs are more scarce.

• Starts at 9am and finishes at 6pm.
• Report to Flick to get unique prizes in challenges.
• Flick is also buying bugs for higher prices than anywhere else.

Groundhog Day

Occurs: January 25th – February 2nd

Hemisphere: Both

This is another occasion marked by an item courtesy of Nook Shopping. Although this holiday takes place at the beginning of February, the model is available from the end of January.

• You can buy a Resetti Model for 2,200 Bells from Nook Shopping.
• The story behind Groundhog Day is that every year on February the 2nd, a special groundhog will emerge. Winter will continue for another six weeks if it sees its own shadow, but if it doesn’t, then spring will arrive early.

Get your Resetti Model to commemorate Groundhog Day.

Setsubun

Occurs: January 25th – February 3rd

Hemisphere: Both

Around the same time as Groundhog Day, another holiday is being celebrated: Setsubun. 

• A Bean-Tossing Kit is available from Nook Shopping for 800 Bells.
• The beans can be tossed around by equipping the kit and pressing the A button.
• A holiday mainly from Japan, people toss beans around outside and shout to ward off demons, in order to stave off illness and disaster and encourage a year of good health and peace.

Throw beans around in the tradition of Setsubun with the Bean-Tossing Kit.

Lunar New Year

Occurs: January 30th – February 6th

Hemisphere: Both

The big New Year’s Countdown is on the 31st of December, but there’s another New Year celebration. Lunar New Year in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

• Although Lunar New Year isn’t commemorated with a big event like the New Year’s Countdown in New Horizons, you can still celebrate with special items available from Nook Shopping.
• The Lucky Red Envelope is available for 500 Bells.
• The Lunar New Year Decoration is available for 2,000 Bells.
• You can interact with the Lucky Red Envelope. You can put Bells inside and gift it to someone else, just like the tradition of the Lunar New Year. These envelopes are traditionally gifted to children to wish them good fortune.

Nook Shopping provides the Red Lucky Envelope and Wall Decoration for the Lunar New Year.

Seollal

Occurs: January 30th – February 6th

Hemisphere: Both

Seollal is technically part of the Lunar New Year, but this is a Korean tradition. 

• A Bokjumeoni Lucky Pouch can be bought from Nook Shopping for 500 Bells.
• Bells can be placed in the pouch and gifted to someone else in the game.
• Seollal shares the same tradition as Lunar New Year: giving children money in small bags to wish them good fortune and health.

Celebrate the Lunar New Year Korean style with the Bokjumeoni Lucky Pouch.

January Birthdays

January is a month full of birthdays in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, some of these celebrating the birthdays of special NPCs. Make a note of these villagers and their birthdays, so you can get ready to party with them and get a gift together.

January Bugs, Fish and Sea Creatures

It’s the peak of winter in the north, and the heart of summer in the southern hemisphere. This means plenty of bugs, fish and sea creatures are around in both hemispheres in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The good news is that there is already a dedicated guide to fish, bugs, and sea creatures in the month of January in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If you want to find out all the details on fish, bugs, and sea creatures for this month, you should check it out.

Let’s quickly summarize what you can expect for fish, bugs, and sea creatures in January in New Horizons. What’s available depends on which hemisphere you’re playing in.

Bugs

Let’s begin with bugs and see what changes there are in each hemisphere. 

• Northern Hemisphere: There are no changes at all this month in the northern hemisphere, not for bugs. Nothing is coming or going.
• Southern Hemisphere: Lots of new bugs become available this month, including cicadas, beetles, and stags. You can generally find cicadas during the day (except the Evening Cicada), beetles all day (except the Scarab Beetle), and stags at night. Many of these will stick around until the end of February, so catch them while you can! January is also your last chance to get the honeybee until it reappears in September.

Among many others, earth-boring dung beetles can be found in the south in January.

Fish

What about our fishy friends? Let’s see what they have to report in each hemisphere this month.

• Northern Hemisphere: Just like bugs, there’s absolutely no change whatsoever.
• Southern Hemisphere: Look out for some new fish arriving. These are the blue marlin, napoleonfish, ocean sunfish, pufferfish, and sweetfish. The only fish leaving in January is the tadpole, found only in ponds. It won’t return in the southern hemisphere until September.

This tiny tadpole will disappear after January in the south.

Sea Creatures

What about those creatures only found by diving into the ocean surrounding your island? Let’s take a look.

• Northern Hemisphere: Nothing new is arriving this month. However, the abalone and lobster will disappear at the end of the month.
• Southern Hemisphere: Some new sea creatures can be found this month, such as the moon jellyfish, the giant isopod (which is very elusive and valuable), and the horseshoe crab. The only departure after January is seaweed, which returns in April.

The giant isopod is a hard find, but very rewarding.

That sums up the month of January in Animal Crossing: New Horizons! What’s your favorite thing about January in New Horizons? Let us know in the comments.

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