New Year Customs

Whilst I was gallavanting about various countries of Asia, Japanese has its own ways of celebrating New Year. They don't celebrate Christmas, but they do celebrate New Year. Well....they kinda celebrate Christmas but more in a cold, heartless, consumerist sense. New Year or Oshogatsu is the most important time. A time for family, a time when Japanese children receive 'Otoshidama' - envelopes with money in it!

On the night of New Years Eve families go to their local shrines to pray for good luck and fortune in the coming year. And on New Years Day they eat various foods such a Mochi (rice cakes - pounded rice). After a returned from my Christmas travels, I was invited to a community mochi eating event in Okigo town which had a 'Saito-yaki' ceremony which is (straight from the Japanese horse's mouth) 'burn old things'.

Making mochi is great fun, you have this BIG mallet and have to pound the rice as hard as you can. You try to get in a rhythm where one person keeps moving the mochi with his hand, then moves it quickly before the other person pounds it again with the mallet, and so on. I didn't do too bad but its not easy! Eating mochi however, is not quite as fun. It's ok - but I prefer my rice not pounded. The Japanese kind of love it. In the northern part of Japan where I live (Tohoku) they particularly love 'Natto Mochi'. Natto is a horrible horrible kind of fermented bean concoction. It has a very strange smell and an even worse texture. Most foreigners don't like it - I can eat it, but I don't like it that much. But when it is combined with the other strange food of Natto Mochi - it is THE WORST FOOD IN THE WORLD!

(All you have to do is pull out a pot of Marmite when Natto is mentioned, and Japanese people generally tend to run a mile!)

'Saito-yaki' is a very interesting ritual. It is basically like a bonfire of wood and straw and amonst it are little items that people place in the bonfire to be burnt - to pray for good health. (Also to keep you warm outside in the FREEZING cold). It was a nice community event and I had the chance to speak to various people and children from the area!