A Happy New Year!!
These dishes in the photo above are Japanese traditional New Year's dishes called "Osechi Dishes". In Japan, families and friends get together and enjoy these dishes with Sake during New Year celebration period (between January 1st and 3rd).
Actually the "Osechi Dishes" would be different in almost each family. Even in one family it can be different because there are huge variety for these traditional cooking and almost every legion has some local special dishes/styles. So the dishes in the photos are just my tradition and it's not completely same with my mother's since I added some dishes I'd like to have and also took in my husband's family's tradition.
However, in the dishes above there are many typical traditional Osechi dishes which many families cook as standards. If you are interested in each dishes, please check my previous post in 2016, "Introduction of Major Osechi Dishes" (Please click here)!
Hope you will enjoy my blogs in 2017!
New Year celebration is one of the biggest seasonal events for Japanese people. Also it's the biggest vacation time and most people have their New Year vacation at least between December 31st and January 3rd. However, traditionally there are many things to do as preparations for New Year celebration, so most people become more busy before having their vacation.
One of the pre-new-year preparations is sending out New Year greeting cards as I introduced in my previous post on November 22nd, then after finishing the work, what else people would do for the preparations?
First, people have a big clean-up of their house, then go out for shopping to get all the stuff for New Year celebration. There are traditional New Year decorations, and since the decorations are for one time use, people buy them every year. It is said that the new year decorations should be set up by 30th.
Also, from January 1st to 3rd is traditionally the time for family gathering and New Year celebration parties. People eat New Year special dishes with their family and friends and actually the traditional dishes should be cooked before New Year. So, after Christmas grocery markets are still full of people coming to buy the ingredients or cooked new year food.
Then, for those who prefer homemade new year dishes, between December 30th and 31st would be the busiest time for the cooking. Some people even make Mochi (rice cake) from sweet rice at home on December 30th and decorate part of it at home as you can see in the photos above and eat the rest during New Year celebration days.
On December 31st, the last day of the year, people eat one kind of Japanese noodle "Soba" called "Toshikoshi-soba (Noodle for New Year's Eve)". It is a tradition for the end of a year to wish longevity. After eating the noodle, finally it is the relaxing time to wait for count down!
I introduced some photos about celebration items and costumes in my previous post on September 21st. In Japanese culture actually there are many more traditional celebration events for lifetime. I'll show the summary list below.
7 days after a baby birth: A celebration for official announcement of the baby's name.
Around 1 month after a baby birth: A celebration to take the baby to a shrine/temple for the first time.
100 days after a baby birth: Having a celebration party to wish the baby will have abundant food for his/her lifetime.
3 years old (for girls): A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
5 years old (for boys):A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
7 years old (for girls):A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
60 years old:A celebration called "Kanreki".
70 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Koki".
77 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Kiju".
80 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Sanju".
88 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Beiju"
90 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Sotsyju".
99 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Hakuju"
100 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Hyakuju".
As you can see, after 60 years old there are many events to celebrate longevity. However, it is no wonder because reaching these ages would have been really impressive in old days. Then 60 years old is the turning point for the frequent celebrations.
Actually, 60 years old is a special age in Asian culture which is considered as the period of starting over. There are two old cyclical systems to count years called "Jikkan" and "Junishi". These were invented in China and have spread in Asian countries including Japan.
The "Junishi" cycle system is often translated "The 12 animal zodiac signs" in English and using twelve different animals to count 12 years as one cycle. It's still very common and everybody know own animal of their birth year in Japan. On the other hand, "Jikkan" is not well-known anymore, but it is also a cycle system of years. This one is using 5 basic elements such as fire, water, soil, wood, and gold.
In old days, people counted years combining these two cycles as in "Year of wood mice", "Year of fire ox" and so on. Then, at 60 years old people will have the original combination of these two cycles when they were born. Thus 60 years old became the age people finished one big cycle and start over the next cycle, just like the second birth of the life. It would be a good timing to have celebration.
Traditionally, people celebrate "Kanreki (60-year-old celebration)" wearing a red traditional type of vest and a special red cap as you can see in the upper middle illustration. Regarding the color, red is a special color in Japanese culture as I introduced on the September 21st and that's why most costumes for celebrations in the photos above are including red color. About the style, This kind of vest had been a common outer wear in old time and the special style cap is just like the cap which one of the Japanese gods of good fortune, "Daikoku-ten", is wearing as you can see in the upper left hand side photo.
However, the typical "Kanreki (60-year-old celebration)" style seems like kind of outdated. In fact many people are not interested in wearing it nowadays since both of the items are not very fancy nor practical. Apparently, when people turn 60, most of them now choose other red items such as red T-shirts, red sweater, or red cardigan to celebrate the event. It would be a good change for this traditional custom.
How about wearing a nice red clothes and having a celebration when you turn 60 years old?
Today, I'd like to introduce a local style of grilled eel dish in Nagoya area (Aichi prefecture) as a continuation of my previous post. Since almost any area in Japan has some local special products, dishes, or cooking styles, there are also different recipes or dishes for eels.
You might think it looks very similar to the previous eel dish I showed yesterday. However, this one is called "Hitsumabushi", and clearly distinguished from the previous one called "Unajuu/Unadon". The main difference is not the recipe, actually how you eat differentiates this dish from "Unajuu/Unadon".
Regarding "Unajuu/Unadon", people eat it as it is, because the grilled eel was already dipped in a sauce while it was grilling and has enough seasoning. The grilled eel of "Hitsumabushi" is also seasoned as well, but as a unique feature, the dish is recommended to eat in three steps.
As a first step, eat it as is and enjoy taste of grilled eel, then proceed to the second step. As you can see in the upper left hand side photo, there are three small dishes in front. They are all additional flavors, such as green onion, Wasabi, and Shiso (a Japanese herb). So people can change the taste of the dish with these additional flavors. Then at the end, a clear soup will be served for the third step. It is to pour onto the grilled eel and rice. After adding a topping of Nori (a seaweed), people can enjoy the grilled-eel rice soup.
With these three steps, one dish gets different tastes/flavors/textures, and people can finish "Hitsumabushi" even though it may look like too much food in the beginning. Even outside of Doyo-no-ushi Day in summer, I think it's worth trying out when you have a chance to visit Nagoya area!
July 30th (in 2016) was "Doyo-no-ushi Day(Ox-day of Doyo)" in Japan. “Ox-day” came from Japanese traditional calendar because in old times Japanese people counted date by 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the same as Monday, Tuesday...and so on are used for the 'week'. Thus Ox-day comes around once a 12days, and “Doyo” is a name of a period came from ancient Chinese calendar. The Doyo period originally exists in each season so technically there are one or two Ox-days of Doyo in each season.
However only for summer Japanese people keep it in their calendars because there is a custom of eating eels on this "Doyo-no-ushi Day" in summer. It might sound funny but it has been believed among Japanese people that eating eels on the day would work well against fatigue caused by summer heat because eels are very nutritious and good for developing one's stamina.
So, during the Doyo period in summer, many of Japanese rush to eat eels. The typical way to eat eels on the day is grilled eels on the rice with sweet soy-sauce. Food shops sell lot's of grilled eels as you can see in the lower photo and all traditional eel restaurants as shown in the upper photos get busy, then on the "Ox-day of Doyo" it reaching its peak on the "Ox-da of Doyo".
The custom seems like a very old tradition based on some serious reason, but it is said that actually it was a made-up trend during the late Samurai-era in the 18th century. There was a famous historical herbalist named Gennai Hiraga(1728-1780), he was a talented person who wrote light novels and invented devices. Apparently one day a shop owner of grilled eels with declining his sales asked for help and Gennai advised to advertise “It’s Doyo-no-ushi Day. Eat eels!” and it became a big trend in summer. At that time people already knew eels were good nutritious food, and the advertisement probably caught the attention of those who felt exhausted under the summer heat.
Since then, it came to stay as a seasonal custom in Japan. Maybe eating eels really works well against fatigue. If you are wondering about the effect, please try it on the 30th!
July and August are actually neighborhood festival months in Japan. In residential areas, traditionally people organize neighborhood communities in every several blocks called "Chonai-kai". These "Chonai-kai" communities usually manage local activities such as small festivals, and public space cleanup in the community, and share information.
Since July and August are the traditional seasonal period called "Obon", which has been the time to visit own home town for family gathering since old times. It is said that during "Obon" the souls of our dead family would come back to our house for a short visit, and we welcome them with offerings, memorial services and festivals. Therefore each "Chonai-kai" community holds small local festivalsincluding "Bon-dance" in this season. "Bon-dance" is a general name for dances with traditional music practiced in Obon season.
At these small local festivals other typical festival activities such as "Mikoshi (portable shrines)", "Dashi (traditional festival cart)", traditional instruments performances and parades are often seen as well shown in the photos above. These photos were taken at Mejirodai Festival in Hachioji city held on July 16th and 17th.
Perhaps you can come across these local festivals while walking in town!
Yesterday I introduced a traditional seasonal event on July 7th named "Tanabata", and I'd like to introduce more detailed story of the Tanabata Legend. As I wrote previously, the Tanabata legend was originally imported from China but it was combined with Japanese seasonal custom to form the current style of Tanabata event in Japan.
The legend is a romantic story about a couple representing two actual stars like stories of constellations in Greek myths. Well, the story is below.
...Long ago, there was a daughter of a god in the sky named Ori-hime (means Weaving-princess). She is representing a star which is known as "Vega" in constellation Lyra located in the west side of the Milky Way. Her job was weaving cloth and she was working diligently every day. Then her father god started to look for a good husband-to-be for her.
Soon the father god found a nice diligent young man in the east side of the Milky Way. His name was Hiko-boshi (means Male-star) and his job was taking care of cattle at the Milky Way. Thus the father god arranged marriage of his daughter and Hiko-boshi. They fell in love and were very happy with the marriage.
However, the young couple started to enjoy staying together too much and neglected their jobs. Ori-hime stopped weaving and Hiko-boshi stopped taking care of cattle. Even after the father god admonished them, they didn't change their attitude. Eventually the father god became really angry and he split the young couple and made them live separately on the opposite side of the Milky Way.
Ori-hime and Hiko-boshi regretted a lot for their laziness and apologized to the father god but father god was too angry to forgive them. Long after the father god confirmed they had been working diligently again as they did before the marriage, he said they were allowed to have a date once a year. Since then they started to have a date on July 7th, and that's the Tanabata Day.
It's a nice romantic legend that most Japanese know, but recently illumination at night has been too bright and people in cities can't see both of the stars and the Milky Way. Therefore, a new attempt started in some areas recently and people are trying to "Light-down" the areas to see the two Tanabata legendary stars and the Milky Way. It's a nice Eco-friendly idea. Probably the star couple would also feel happy to have their annual date quietly!
July 7th is "Tanabata Day (Star Festival)" in Japan. "Tanabata" is one of the major seasonal events in traditional Japanese custom although it is not a national holiday. For "Tanabata" event, people write their wishes on fancy paper strips and hang them on bamboo-trees (Sasa) with various paper decorations just like Christmas ornaments hanging on Christmas trees.
So these decorated bamboo trees are often seen at schools, shopping malls, and even outside on streets in the beginning of July. It is still a very common event where people enjoy participating. It is said that bamboo trees grow straight toward the sky, and with the rustling sound of the leaves it would deliver people's wishes to the stars of Tanabata legend.
Tanabata legend is a romantic story between two stars in the sky. It was originally imported from China and taken into Japanese custom. According to the legend July 7th is a special day for the star couple because they have a once-a-year date over the Milky Way. Japanese people started thinking the star couple would grant their wishes on this happy day, so people write their wishes on paper strips and hang them on bamboo trees.
This is a kind of "Jumping on the bandwagon" wish making, so people write any kinds of wishes casually, such as "Want to hit a lottery!", "Want to get a high scores at the next exam!", "Want to stay healthy!" and so on. If you find paper strips and pens beside Tanabata bamboo trees in a shopping mall, it's free to write any personal wishes and hang the paper.
Please try! Hope you have a nice Tanabata Day!
