New Years in Japan

Happy New Year everyone!! :) It's the beginning of another year and a fresh start.

In Japan, New Years is the most important holiday of the year- equivalent to Thanksgiving and Christmas for us back home :) It is seen as a day for families to spend time together, although many people also go shopping as stores have good deals and "lucky bags". These bags can be purchased from a range of prices and usually contain merchandise worth more than what the customer pays. So, if you buy a lucky bag for 10,000 yen, inside will have things worth at least double the amount. The only drawback is that you don't know what's inside the bag, so it's based on luck hence the name :)

Osechi-ryori are traditional Japanese New Year foods and although people make it themselves, many people opt to buy it from stores because it saves them a great deal of time. The foods are neatly arranged in boxes called jubako (usually) in three tiers. Each dish has a special symbolic meaning behind it. Usually back home in Hawaii, my family and I all get together and make an abundance of yummy food. However, because I celebrated New Years in Japan this year, I was on my own to make osechi-ryori and although it definitely isn't as fancy or good as ones that people buy, I was still very pleased with the results :)

 Nishime is a stew-like dish that has a variety of vegetables and also meat. My Mom uses pork, but I decided to make mine with chicken instead :) It takes awhile to cook because certain ingredients are added throughout the cooking process, depending on how long they take to cook. I made mine with chicken, takenoko, hasu, gobo, konnyaku, beans, shiitake mushrooms and carrots. Below are some of the symbolism behind the foods:

Gobo: because it is a long root, gobo symbolizes a long, stable life. I also heard that it's supposed to symbolize strong family roots as well :)
Hasu/Renkon: the various holes in the lotus root are supposed to allow people to look through the new year ahead of them
Flower-shaped carrots: This is a fertility wish as plum flowers bear one fruit

 Soba is often eaten on New Year's Eve as the long noodles represent crossing over to the next year. Kamaboko is a celebratory food as its colors symbolize the rising sun.

 This was my first time eating kuri kinton which is a combination of sweetened sweet potatoes and sweet chestnuts. So...it's kind of sweet >.<;. Its golden yellow color represents one's wish for a financial success in the upcoming year as well as wealth.

Kuromame are black soybeans that have been cooked in a sweet sauce for a long time and symbolize good health.

Tazukuri is a dish made from dried sardines that have been roasted and cooked with a sweet soy sauce and sesame seeds. The recipe called for honey, but I accidentally bought pancake syrup instead because I didn't read the label -____-; Still tasted fine to me! :) This dish represents a bountiful harvest as the kanji for tazukuri  （田作り）means "making rice fields".

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year!