Happy New Year! Since the weather was warmer than yesterday and a very clear day, I felt we started perfect 2025! As usual, my husband and I invited my parents, our daughter, our son-in-law and our grandson, and we threw a home party. I had been busy for a while for preparing the party and cleaning our house.
This year, we had sukiyaki, a Japanese hot pot dish, for our party. Although it might sound unusual to some, we eat raw eggs with it. We dip cooked ingredients into the raw egg, and this is one of my favorite hot pot dishes in winter. The beef we used was Ōmi beef from my hometown Shiga Prefecture. High quality beef makes sukiyaki better.
We spend time together to eat feast every year, and it's our family tradition.
Last night I baked a matcya cake. I used simmered black beans, which we used to eat for New Year. I'll show the recipe some time soon.
These bowls in the picture below are called zōni, a traditional New Year’s soup. Although my mom is from Kyoto, she doesn't make the Kyoto style znōi with white miso and a sweet flavor, I've been following her recepi.
The bowl on the far left in the first row is for my grandson. Since he's still a baby, it's dangerous for him to eat a piece of rice cake because he might choke it. I replaced the rice cake with plain rice for him.
Both my husband and daughter love crabs, I boiled it for them too.
Since we are seven people including my grandson, we used two pots to make sukiyaki.
After the meal, we went to the nearest Shinto shrine for hatsumōde, our first shrine visit of the year. I was so happy that all seven of us could go together. My grandson loves waking, and he got so excited during the visit that he started yelling. It was so adorable.
At Shinto shrines, there's a certain way to pray. First, you pass through a grass ring, walking in a figure-eight pattern.
Six of us pulled out omikuji ( fortune slips) to see our fortunes for this year. Since I was holding my grandson (I'm his favorite and every time he got tired, he asked me to carry him.), the picture below isn't good. In the picture, I'm holding both my grandson and my omikuji. My husband and my parents got "small luck" while my daughter, my son-in law and I were lucky enough to get "great luck". Omikuji typically comes in five levels: great luck, good luck, small luck, luck, and bad luck. They're a bit like Chinese fortune cookies in the States.
After enjoying reading our fortunes, we tied our omikuji to a tree branch in the shrine. It's a part of custom.
It was a wonderful way to follow Japanese traditions and spend time together as a family.
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Thank you for sharing this awesome new years celebration. For me personally, new years is not celebrated very much with my family, instead I make resolutions and watch the fireworks. This has inspired me to make sure I spend enough time with my family this year, so thank you ! I also hope I can go to the shrines one year [in Japan].
@bakerboy001 I've heard the same thing from my British friend and American friends. They say Christmas is more important and celebrate with their families. In Japan New Year is the most important event in the year, and the next is obon. Spending time with our families is fun, and I hope you'll spend more time with your family this year. I also really hope you'll visit our shrines or temples some time soon!!!
Mouthwatering feast😋It's been years since I ate Sukiyaki and Ozoni last and I miss them a lot. I know how exhausting it can be to prepare such a feast, but it's worth the effort. Thank you for sharing!
@yumiyumayume Oh wow, I didn't know it was the biggest event of the year ! We also had a big feast on Christmas, and spent time together. Happy new year :)
Happy New Year, @Lariza ! Yes, I'd been very busy doing lots of things for New Year, but it's definitely worth it! I love seeing smile faces. Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a comment. I really hope you'll have sukiyaki and ozoni some time soon!!
Hi, @bakerboy001 Your Christmas sounds like our New Year. Happy New Year to you too!!
In Spain we also celebrate Christmas and the New Year with the family. I was born into a farming family and Christmas was very noisy because there were a lot of children. Later, with the falling birth rate and a more urban culture, Christmas has become more intimate and with fewer children. Still, the ritual is always the same: celebration, food, friendship and good wishes, @yumiyumayume .
@druida Your Christmas and New Year sounds very lovely and cozy!!! I love spending holiday seasons with my family. They definitely bring happiness to me!