In my New Year's entry, I mentioned otoso (medicinal sake), but I didn't explain well because I wanted to write about it on another post. Today I'd like to explain it in more detail.

Otoso originated in China during The Three kingdom period (184 to 280), which was invented by the famous physician, Hua Tuo who was also known for developing anesthesia. During the Heian period (794 to 1185), this medicinal sake was passed down in Japan. It got popular among the imperial palace. People believed that it would get rid of evil spirits and bring good fortunes for the coming year.

I'm not a superstitious person, but I tend to follow traditions. Last year, I came across some very high-quality mirin ( cooking wine) and some herbs for making good otoso. I was very excited when I found them because medicinal or herbal drinks aren't often very tasty.

Making otoso with them was quite simple. I just soaked the herbal pack in the mirin overnight, and that's it.

I painted the otoso set in the picture last year. You can read about it here. I was truly looking forward to finally using them.

Here is otoso, which looks yellow liquid. It's medicinal, but everybody loved it. It's easy to drink. There is a custom of drinking otoso starting with the youngest person, so my grandson went first. I don't think he enjoyed it, but he drank. Then, it was passed to the next youngest. My dad was the oldest, so he drank the last. Even though I don't drink any alcohol because of an allergy, I enjoyed it.

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