Ringing in the New Year
The Japanese people attach great importance to the New Year season and is celebrated with great enthusiasm in Hawaii.
Mochi pounding is the biggest event of the New Year’s celebration. To pound mochi, sweet rice is soaked overnight then steamed until soft. Then it’s placed in the usu (big, deep bowl). One or two people pound the mochi while another person turns the mochi in the usu between the pounds and sprinkles some water on it. When the mochi is smooth, it is placed on a table and shaped into flat balls with the hand.
There are traditional New Year’s foods that are eaten to give strength, good luck, good health and long life.
- One traditional food prepared at New Year’s time is mochi.
- Ozoni (mochi soup) is made on New Year’s eve and is eaten after midnight. It is believed to give strength throughout the upcoming year.
- Having a whole red fish is greatly believed to bring you good luck.
Most Japanese families attend a New Years service at the Buddhist temple to pay their respects to deceased family members. At midnight each person helps to ring the church bell and drink a toast of warm sake. Then they dash home through a thick blanket of smoke to light strings of firecrackers, believed to scare away evil spirits.
What are some of your cultural New Years traditions?
|
Owner of An Island Life and Family Review Network. Wife, mother, and flight attendant . . . living a blessed life in Hawaii. |
I have my mochi to eat tonight!! I’m so excited, we couldn’t get it in central Illinois!
**I’m leaving for Vegas this afternoon so we’re having ours after lunch! Yum!
I’d like to experience it.
Are those pink balls the mochi? It doesn’t look at all like rice anymore — it looks like pink sugar coated candy!
**Yes, those are mochi. They added food coloring to the white rice. Doesn’t it look pretty?
Mine did not turn out that pretty! Ugh. It was frozen, not fresh, and it didn’t make the transition well, but I made the two of them eat some anyway. LOL
** It doesn’t matter what they look like, at least you made the effort! Here’s to a year of Good Luck!
My mother, in homage to her Chinese heritage (which was minute, btw) always told us to eat cabbage on New Years for good luck.
We had Mexican food today for lunch, and with our tostadas, instead of lettuce, we used cabbage. I still listen to my mother even with her being gone for almost 22 years!
My family and my in-laws eat cabbage and black-eyed peas on New Years Day. I actually think it’s a southern tradition? Mochi looks interesting! Hmm, wonder where I can get some? hehe Be careful in Vegas!!!
My husband loved the mochi balls; I never developed a taste for them. Maybe we didn’t get the rice kind, though. Boy, I remember the thick blanket of smoke, though. It covered the whole island for a week! I don’t miss that.
I don’t think I have any cultural New Years traditions, really (aside from staying up entirely too late), except for celebrating my mom’s birthday. The Man is from the South, where they eat ham hocks, greens, and (most importantly) black-eyed peas for New Year’s dinner. Um, yum.
Howzit sista! Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Oh man, I miss eatting mochi for New Years this time. When I go back, I’m going to go get me some mochi ice cream and some shave ice with the mochi balls, azuki and ice cream inside. My daughter sent me some yokan and it was so ono! Have a good year in 2007 with your family. Take care and much aloha!
I love love love mochi!! So good!
I love to see what other people do for their celebrations. We eat black-eyed peas here (I live in TX, but grew up in TN). This year, I added Ham to my black-eyed peas for flavor. The peas are for good luck, and greens (turnip greens for my grandparents) are for foldin’ paper money to come your way. I might try to do something for Chinese New Year—I think in Feb.?
This is all very interesting! I live in the Deep South and we have some food traditions (black-eyed peas, certain foods for good luck and prosperity). None nearly so interesting as yours!
Happy New Year – may 2007 bring you much happiness and many blessings!
Our “tradition” is that DD gathers up all her noisiest toys and brings them upstairs and hands them out to everyone. Then we watch the ball drop at 10, 11 and 12pm. make a bunch of noise, drink sparkling apple cider and I kiss DH. DD stayed up practically long enough to ring in the New Year in Hawaii, but I didn’t let her know for the west coast…hee hee
That’s very interesting. I like reading about other people’s traditions. The mochi looks very appetizing. I love food composed of sweet rice. I have made a post about our family traditions. If you have time you can check it out at http://mysoulfulthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/12/our-new-years-eve-traditions.html
Have a wonderful New Year!
Supposedly we should eat cabbage and black-eyed peas. I hate both, so I guess I’m on my own for good luck.
[...] As for An Island Life, you can read about a Japanese family tradition in Ringing in the New Year. [...]
I love hearing about other cultures traditions.
Happy New Year. Thanks for hosting another great carnival.
Here via the carnival of family life.
I done been by here once, but I thought I’d acknowledge my CoFL rounds!
** Every single comment counts! Even this one! LOL!
I spent many of my formative years in Hawaii (Oahu- Hickam Air Force Base). I have fond memories of New Years celebrations with our families best friends- a Japanese/American family that lived next door.
The best part was the immense string of firecrackers all tied together and hanging from a wood pole. The best.
DigitalRich
Here via Carnival of Family Life
** Yes, that’s the best part . . . lighting the string of 50,000 firecrackers at midnight!