Aya and I spent the night at her parents house New Years Eve so we could wake up and have Osechi Riyori, the traditional Japanese New Years Day meal with them.
The basis of the meal is an assortment of colorful foods that can be prepared in advance (new years eve) and can be easily preserved allowing housewives to relax of the first 3 days of the new year. The meal is a beautiful display of many different seafoods (fish, fish cakes, different fish roes) and vegetable dishes. This symbolizes Japanese appreciation of the sea and the earth which supports them.
A close up of one box
The spread. Of course sake is an important part of this first meal, but it is a special sweet sake called Otoso.
Getting ready to grub
The kamaboko (fish cake) is specially decorated for the new year. The pink one has a rabbit since this is the year of the rabbit.
I am not a huge fan of the sweet sake, so Miyakoda-san got out a bottle of regular sake. Nothing like breakfast and rice wine.
Later that afternoon we went to the New Otani Hotel to have some sake from a traditional hinoki cypress cask
The Miyakoda's in front of the cask
Then we went to the local shrine to pay our respects
The Miyakoda's offering New Year's prayers
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