Memorable New Year Experience in Nara, Japan

Happy New Year 2012 to every of my blog visitors! May you all have a wonderful year ahead!

To start off with the year 2012, I would like to share my memorable new year experience with Japanese tradition. Thanks to my best friend's invitation, I was able to welcome the new year 2012 in Nara, Japan at the cool relaxing countryside of Yoshino.

As an introduction, Japanese New Year or term as Shogatsu (正月) is one of the most important celebration in Japan. Before the Meiji Era, the New Year was celebrated on the same date as Lunar New Year but somehow after the Meiji restoration the date was shifted to Gregorian calendar. Please don't ask me why...hehe

New Year's Eve (Omisoka)

The New Year eve or omisoka (大晦日) is the 2nd most important day because, it is the last day of the year. During this time, I helped my friend's family in spring cleaning their home and also decorating their house.

First is the Kadoumatsu, which is to welcome the ancestral spirits or kami (God) of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas until January 7 (or January 15 during the Edo period) and are considered temporary housing (shintai) for the kami. Designs for kadomatsu vary depending on region but are typically made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes ume tree sprigs which represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively. "The fundamental function of the New Year ceremonies is to honor and receive the toshigami (deity), who will then bring a bountiful harvest for farmers and bestow the ancestors' blessing on everyone." After January 15 (or in many instances the 19th) the kadomatsu is burned to appease the kami or toshigami and release them. (wikipedia, 2012)

the Kadoumatsu Bamboo decoration and a waving cat to welcome good luck is placed at the front entrance of their home

A special rope (shimenawa) is hung over the door to symbolize purity. The design of this rope is of shrimp. 

Their shrine has been prepared with decorations of white cut paper and an arrangement of  two flattened pounded-rice balls (big and small) (kagami mochi) stacked on each other topped with an orange and tangerine (citrus fruit has many sections - symbolizing many generations to the family). The mochi are placed on pure white paper and surrounded by objects with auspicious meanings for the family.  

 

Japanese Sake filled with white paper

And finally up to the shrine. sorry there will not be any photos of family shrine due to privacy

My lunch after morning cleanup

the night reunion dinner. The dinner is custom wrap of temaki roll..you can mix anything with rice and wrap it. Enjoy it with sake or beer.

During the New Year's eve, there will also be an important program which starts at 7:30 pm when public broadcaster NHK airs Kōhaku Uta Gassen ("Red vs White singing contest"), one of the country's most-watched television programs. Popular singers (and singing groups) split into two teams, women in the red team and men in the white, which then alternate while competing for the audience's heart throughout the evening. At around 11:30 pm, the final singer (or group) sings, and the audience and a panel of judges are asked to cast their votes to decide which team sang better. The winning team gets a trophy and "the winners' flag." The program ends at about 11:45 pm. Programming then switches to coverage of midnight celebrations around the country. (Wikipedia, 2012)

Just before the midnight, we ate soba noodle which is the most popular since it symbolizes longevity

New Year 2012

And here's new year!! Finally....we woke up in the morning and greeted everyone Happy New Year in Japanese. Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (明けましておめでとうございます、今年もよろしくお願いします）The meaning is....please google it. :P

For starters, we will start the day with Osechi Ryori (御節料理 ) or short form Osechi (お節料理)This consists of boiled seaweed (昆布 konbu), fish cakes (蒲鉾 kamaboko), mashed sweet potato with chestnut (栗きんとん kurikinton), simmered burdock root (金平牛蒡 kinpira gobo), sweetened black soybeans (黒豆 kuromame) and fish eggs. Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried, so they can keep without refrigeration—the culinary traditions date to a time before households had refrigerators, when most stores closed for the holidays. In other words the mother make osechi enough for 3 days so that she will never have to cook for 3 days aka holiday for her. (Wikipedia, 2012)

 

There are also many variations of osechi, and some foods eaten in one region are not eaten in other places (or are considered unfortunate or even banned) on New Year's Day. In this case, my kind of osechi is from Nara prefecture.

fish eggs!!! i have never seen so many eggs in such a big chunk before.

Osechi are kept in beautiful bento boxes 

Happy Family of 3 Generations!That is my host family for the New Year and my best friend, is at the right most of the photo.

I love the way we have our dinner. Inside a heater table at the guest hall. Great experience!!!

In the evening of the day we had hot pot or steamboat or Nabe in Japanese with other relatives and family members.

Surprise! I also got an 'angpow' from my friend's father.
本真にありがとうございます！

Red packet/Angpow is called otoshidama-bukuro (お年玉袋) in Japanese.

Thank you very much for the wonderful experience. I really hope to meet everyone again in Nara.
正月は本真にめっちゃ楽しかった！。皆元気でね！