New Year’s celebrations in Japan are totally different from the west, and food is a big part of it!
Traditional New Years Celebration in Japan
For many people in the West, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas (or perhaps Hanukah or, some years, Ramadan) are chances to spend time gathered with your family, cozy together in the winter weather. New Years, on the other hand, is for many people just a big celebration, and an excuse to get drunk with friends or a special someone. But here in Japan, it's the other way around. The period leading up to New Year's Day is very important for many Japanese families, and features quite a few different traditions.
To this day, many Japanese people write New Year's cards (called nengajou, 年賀状) to friends, family, and those who have affected them in some way the past year. Sometimes, this is hundreds of people! And a bit like spring cleaning in other parts of the world, lots of people maintain the tradition of "osouji" (大掃除), a massive cleaning process meant to help start the new year "clean and pure." Perhaps the most fun part of celebrations, though, come after the new year has begun. In the days following New Year's Eve, people in Japan eat dishes deep with meaning, called "osechi ryori" (おせち料理).
Osechi ryori generally consists of a number of small dishes, each dish treasured and preserved through the years thanks to their special meanings. Not every dish is just plain and simple "good luck"―the ingredients are said to bring whoever eats them a variety of good fortunes. Japanese black beans (黒豆), for example, are meant to be a symbol of health, and also to help you work industriously through the year. Herring roe (数の子; kazunoko), which comes in solid lumps of hundreds of little eggs, is unsurprisingly a symbol of the many children and descendants that will come after you. Eating sweet chestnut dumplings (栗きんとん; kurikinton) is meant to bring financial prosperity, thanks to the golden color of the sweet potato, and sardines (田作り; tatsukuri) are said to bring you a good harvest, thanks to their history of being used by Japanese farmers as fertilizer!
The tradition behind osechi ryori is said to go back as far as the Heian period (794-1185). It was essentially a special meal that was offered to various deities, and also to royalty and aristocrats. Now it is a way to mark the new year, and eaten by anyone who wants to participate in the tradition. Just about every region and household in Japan has its own version of osechi ryori, but in most places, all the little dishes come served in special lacquer bento boxes called jubako (重箱), glossy, black, and a level up from your normal lunch box. The jubako are often separated into two or three tiers, and each layer of the box will have different dishes―altogether, the number adds up to well over a dozen different dishes.
Perhaps owing to its royal roots, most osechi ryori can still be quite pricey, but if you're in Japan for New Year's, then you should think about trying it anyway! It's a fun way to experience one of Japan's many long-lived New Year's celebrations, deep with ancient tradition. (Just don't forget to make your reservations ahead of time. Osechi ryori is eaten at home, but it's basically impossible to purchase day-of.)
We hope everyone had lots of things to celebrate this year, and we're looking forward to what next year has to offer! If you are looking for something traditional to finish the year on New Year's Eve, be sure to try toshikoshi soba (年越しそば)― it's tradition to finish the year with soba noodles, and start it with osechi ryori in Japan!
PROFILE
Follow us @Japankuru on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
COMMENT
FEATURED MEDIA
VIEW MORENarita Airport Tax-Free Shopping List 나리타공항 면세점 쇼핑 리스트 #pr #calbee #jagapokkuru #japanesesnacks #japanesefood #japanesesouvenir #japantravel #japantrip #naritaairport #hokkaido #나리타국제공항 #나리타공항면세점 #나리타공항면세점과자 #일본공항면세점 #일본기념품쇼핑리스트추천 #공항면세점쇼핑리스트 #일본과자추천 #면세점일본과자 #일본기념품추천 #일본과자 #자가폿쿠루 #일본간식 #일본과자쇼핑 #일본면세점필수템 #일본기념품쇼핑
Asakusa's Sanja Matsuri, one of the biggest festivals in all of Tokyo, is almost here! Make sure you check out the festival route so you don't miss all the festivities this May. #asakusa #sanjafestival #sanjamatsuri #asakusashrine #sensoji #sensojitemple #japanesefestival #shintoshrine #japaneseculture #tokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #asakusasightseeing #matsuri #japantrip #japantravel #springinjapan #tokyotravel #japankuru #산자마츠리 #아사쿠사 #일본마츠리 #일본여행 #일본5월
Odaiba's DiverCity Tokyo Plaza is home to the famous real-size 20m-tall Unicorn Gundam, and the popular shopping center has even more Gundam on the inside! Check out the Gundam Base Tokyo on the 7th floor for shelves upon shelves of Gunpla, and the Gundam Base Tokyo Annex on the 2nd floor for cool anime merchandise. Both shops have tons of limited-edition items! #pr #odaiba #tokyo #tokyotrip #japantrip #japantravel #PR #divercity #divercitytokyoplaza #tokyoshopping #gundam #unicorngundam #gundambasetokyo #anime #otaku #gunpla #japankuru #오다이바 #다이바시티도쿄 #오다이바건담 #건담 #일본건담 #건프라 #건담베이스도쿄
Evangelion, in miniature!? Tokyo's SMALL WORLDS Miniature Museum is actually a must-see for anime lovers, thanks to the tiny Evangelion Hangar and Tokyo-III... plus a whole universe of other scenes both real and fictional. #smallworlds #smallworldstokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #evangelion #eva #anime #miniature #miniatures #animefigure #japantrip #japantravel #에반게리온 #스몰월드 #에반겔리온 #スモールワールズ #오다이바 #아리아케
Have you sat down for a snack at Sumida Aquarium yet? This aquarium next to Tokyo Skytree is known for its penguins and garden eels, but we can't get enough of their cute snacks! There are lots of good seats around the aquarium, too, so it almost feels like one big cafe. 🐧 • Find out more at Japankuru.com! (Link in bio.) • #japankuru #sumidaaquarium #skytree #tokyoskytree #solamachi #sumida #tokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #aquarium #japanesesweets #themecafe #すみだ水族館 #Japan #日本 #일본 #Japon #ญี่ปุ่น #Japão #япония #japantravel #日本旅行 #日本旅遊 #japan_of_insta #japantrip #traveljapan #japan🇯🇵 #igerstokyo #explorejapan
For anime fans, the Evangelion areas at Small Worlds Miniature Museum are a must see! The tiny miniature people in the Evangelion Hangar look like ants beneath the moving Unit-01, Unit-00, and Unit-02! And over in Tokyo-III, characters like Shinji, Rei, and Katsuragi live life on a miniature scale. #odaiba #tokyo #tokyotrip #japantrip #japantravel #ariake #smallworlds #miniaturemuseum #smallworldstokyo #tokyotravel #evangelion #eva #anime #miniature #miniatures #animefigure #japankuru #스몰월드 #에반게리온 #오다이바 #오다이바관광 #오다이바스몰월드 #미니어쳐