Category: Festive New Year Food

It’s traditional custom for Japanese people to eat O-sechi (traditional food for the New Year) and O-zoni (rice cake and fish based soup) during New Year’s, just as Western people enjoy eating turkey and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day.

For the days proceeding January 1st, department stores stock their shelves and food stalls with Osechi ryori. Osechi ryori is the name for the traditional spread of food served on New Year. At home, housewives also prepare the food so that on the first days into the new year, they don’t have to cook or for that matter, do any housework at all.