Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. We would like to introduce more traditions relating to the New Year in Japan.

[おせち料理/Osechi-Ryori]
Osechi-ryori are specially prepared New Year’s dished to be eaten during the first three days of January. most dishes are cooked in order to be preserved for at least three days so women don’t have to cook during that period. Various kinds of beautifully prepared dishes are set in four-tiered lacquer boxes. There are some regional differences in the contents of osechi, but most of them are common to all parts of Japan. Each of the dishes has some auspicious meaning which reflects people’s wishes. For instance, kazunoko 数の子, herring roe, represents fertility, kuromame 黒豆, cooked black beans, are for health (mame 豆 means healthy in old Japanese), and lobsters are for longevity because their bodies are bent like an old person’s.



[雑煮/Zoni]
Another traditional New Year’s dish is zoni, soup containing mochi, vegitables and other ingredients such as chicken or seafood. In the Kanto region zoni is typically made with square mochi and a clear base flavored with soy sauce and salt, while in the Kansai, Shikoku, and Kyushu areas, they usually cook round mochi in soup flavored with miso, paste of soy beans. A wide variety of ingredients used for zoni are particular to the region where it’s made. Koreans also have a custom of eating something similar to zoni during the New Year.



[初夢（はつゆめ）/First Dream of the Year]
Hatsuyume refers to the dreams that occur on the first night of the year. This is the way some Japanese judge their fortunes for the following year. The top three auspicious dreams are believed to be Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant. In order to ensure a good dream, some people place pictures of the ship of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune 七福神 carrying a treasure or of a baku, an imaginary animal believed to eat bad dreams, under their pillows.

January 10th News, from NILS Japanese language school.