Japanese New Year and Mochi: Experience Tradition and Fun!

Japanese New Year is one of the most special times to experience Japanese culture.
Not only do we celebrate the New Year with family and friends, but we also experience the Japanese spirit through a number of traditions and customs, one of which is indispensable: mochi (rice cakes).
This time, we will introduce the charm of Japanese New Year and mochi in an easy-to-understand way.

Japanese New Year Traditions
In Japan, the New Year is celebrated on January 1st, known as Ganjitsu.
During the New Year period (usually January 1st to 3rd), many people spend time with their families and enjoy the following customs:

First visit to a shrine
It is a tradition to visit a shrine or temple at the beginning of the new year and pray for good health and good fortune for the year. Charms and fortune slips are sold within the temple grounds, and one of the fun things to do is to have your fortune told.
New Year's cuisine
Special dishes called "osechi" are served to families, with each dish having auspicious meanings attached to it, such as black beans (health), fish cake (prosperity) and shrimp (longevity).
New Year's cards
It is customary to send letters to each other as New Year's greetings. Recently, electronic versions have become more common, but paper New Year's cards are still popular.

The relationship between New Year's and mochi
The symbolic food of New Year's is "mochi".
In Japan, mochi has been considered a special food ingredient and has been highly valued since ancient times.
Kagami mochi (rice cake with a mirror)
Kagami mochi is a New Year's decoration that is placed in many homes and shrines.
This is to welcome the New Year's God (Toshigami-sama) and represents gratitude and prayers to the god.
Ozouni (rice cake and soup)
Ozoni, a traditional dish eaten during the New Year holidays, has different flavors and ingredients depending on the region. For example, in the Kanto region, soy sauce-based soup with square mochi is common, while in the Kansai region, miso-based soup with round mochi is common.
Pounding rice cakes
The traditional way to make mochi is called "mochitsuki."
Pounding rice cakes, which involves everyone working together to make the mochi using a pestle and mortar, can be said to be a symbol of Japanese culture.

Ways to enjoy mochi
Various ways to eat
Mochi can be enjoyed sweetly, such as in "kinako mochi" or "anko mochi," or it can be seasoned with soy sauce, like in "isobeyaki."
Please try out the different flavors!
Caution required!
Mochi is chewy and delicious, but because it is sticky, it is important to chew it slowly and thoroughly when eating it.

Japanese New Year is a great opportunity to learn more about traditional culture.
If you are visiting Japan during the New Year holidays, be sure to enjoy Japanese New Year.