A Review of Japanese New Year 2020

明けましておめでとうございます！ Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone who came to our Japanese New Year Event! Hopefully you all had a great time socializing and eating soba and mochi! If you want to look at some photos we took during the event, please click the link here https://bit.ly/38U8Ozi to access that folder.

*This link is open until Feb 14.

年越しそば (TOSHI - KOSHI SOBA)　Year-Crossing Noodle

Many Japanese households eat soba (buckwheat noodles) on December 31st, right before the first day of the new year arrives.

Eating soba noodles holds the meaning of cutting off bad things from the previous year, hoping for longevity, and wishing for hapiness in the new year.

かがみもち (KAGAMI - MOCHI)

Kagami-mochi, made up of two round mochi, is a food offering to the God of Agriculture and the Earth that is put up as a decoration on December 28th.

The round shape represents a full moon, symbolizing wishes for harmony among humans.

福笑い (FUKUWARAI)　Lucky Laugh

Fukuwarai is a children’s game played during the New Year. Blank faces are drawn on large pieces of paper, and players must try to place various cut-out features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, etc. in the correct spots on the face while blindfolded (similar to pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey in America).

This game first became popular late in the Edo period (1603-1868), and people began playing it as a New Year's game during the Taisho era (1912-1926).