Once before the World War, Japanese people celebrated this custom along with the Chinese and Koreans. Enter American traditions and the holiday was set on the back burner, with more importance shown upon the new year that is set by the Georgian calendar. Japan officially stopped using the Chinese calendar in 1873; long before they stopped celebrating this as as a holiday. I believe this is because Japanese just love their holidays. There are still many holidays in Japan that began in the Edo period and are thus celebrated with the moon phases, or Tsuki-okure, but many more are now being celebrated with the Georgian calendar. Others still, are in the spirit of the lunar calendar but celebrated with the Georgian calendar, like Tanabata which is held on the 7th day of the 7th month according to the lunar calendar, but is now held on July 7th.
Interestingly is that Japanese people still very much follow the Chinese zodiac. These too are vibrantly celebrated and displayed on January first. In the smaller villages and towns in Japan, you might still find some celebrators of the Chinese New Year which hold their customs to the lunar new year day. But you will find more revelers if you look in the local China Towns. There are some decent sized districts in Yokohama as well as Kobe that spritz their area up and put on a show. I had the pleasure of going to the Kobe lunar new year festival.
There you can see speeches, performances, try wonderful Chinese New Year delicacies, and most importantly, the dances. There are two specific dances involving tigers and a Dragon. These elaborate dances utilize the force of many people who are used to support the dragon. The tiger costume is a much smaller operation with just a few people (2-3). The tiger costume is not propped up as the Dragon is and it has full functionality of its facial movements.
In addition to the dances, I would always recommend a taste of the street food. These vendors sell anything from croquets to pork buns and dumplings, which is a must have as per Chinese New Year tradition. It is said to bring you wealth and prosperity in the new year, but then what doesn't?
A video of the Kobe Dragon Dance:
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