It is traditional for Japanese people to visit to a shrine or a temple during New Year's Days. People pray for safety, health and good fortune. The first visit to a temple or shrine in a year is called Hatsumoude

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Japanese New Year

January 1st to 3rd are shougatsu (New Year's holidays) in Japan. These are the most important holidays in Japan. People say to each other "ake-mashite-omedetou-gozaimasu" (Happy New Year) whenever they see at the first time in the New Year.

Japanese people eat special dishes called  during shogatsu. Osechi ryouri is packed in a , which has several layers. The foods are colourful and artistically presented. Each dish has a particular meaning. For example, prawns for long life, kuromame (cooked sweet black beans) for health, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (teriyaki taste small sardines) for a good harvest, kurikinton (sweet chestnuts and mashed sweet potato) for happiness, and more.

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It is also traditional to eat mochi (rice cake) dishes on New Year's Days. I wrote more about mochi in my feature about . Zouni (rice cake soup) is the most popular mochi dish at this time. The ingredients vary depending on regions and families. If you are lucky, you can taste many different zouni. In my family, zouni is usually soy-sauce based with pieces of chicken, Chinese cabbage, carrot, green onion, and daikon radishes.

It is traditional for Japanese people to visit to a shrine or a temple during New Year's Days. People pray for safety, health and good ...

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