I'm gonna be in Tokyo during NYE, I was kind of hype at first..thinking there would be a rack of parties around Shinjuku...or a countdown of some sort.
From what I'm reading it looks like the Japanese leave the cities for NYE and head to shrines and temples in the countryside to pray over the new year.
Yeah, I also heard everyone just stays indoors and watches TV during NYE because that's their equivalent of "sweeps week". All the TV networks just go all out on NYE, so people don't even bother to go out.
I don't know if you're into MMA, but there's a show at Saitama Super Arena and that's where Fedor's making his comeback. Plus some giant amazonian sized women are fighting...if you're into freakshow fights, that might be fun for you.