Hatsuhinode - the first sunrise
Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the first time something is done in the new year. Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the new year. January 1 is a very auspicious day, best started by viewing the new year's first sunrise (hatsu-hinode), and traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. Therefore, the day is supposed be full of joy and free of stress and anger, while everything should be clean and no work should be done.
Hatsumōde is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1.
Mochi
One of the famous Japanese new year custom is creating rice cakes (mochi), placing boiled sticky rice into a wooden shallow bucket and patted with water by one person while another person hits it with a large wooden mallet. Mashing the rice, it forms a sticky white dumpling. This is made before New Year's Day and eaten during the beginning of January. Mochi is also made into a New Year's decoration called kagami mochi, formed from two round cakes of mochi with a tangerine placed on top. The name “dai-dai” is considered auspicious since it means "several generations.
Toshikoshi Soba
The traditional evening meal to have while waiting to greet the new year is a bowl of hot soba noodles, called 年越し蕎麦 (としこしそば toshikoshi soba), which roughly means "end the old year and enter the new year soba noodles".
In most households, the menu is quite simple, with something on top such as a slice of kamaboko fishcake, some spinach and maybe a raw egg dropped on top just before serving. When a raw egg is used like this in a bowl of hot noodle, it's called 月見 (つきみ tsukimi) - moon-watching.
Event Recommendation:Saturday, 1/6/2013
11:00am - 5:00pm
Japanese American National Museum, 100 N Central Ave., Los Angeles
Start the New Year and the Year of the Snake with fun arts and crafts, games, and exciting cultural activities and performances. FREE ADMISSION
Fun Activities for Families:
• Slither into the celebrating the Year of the Snake by making some of your own!
• Make a decorative wreath of all the zodiac animals
• Ruthie’s Origami Corner: Fold your own origami snake
• Toddler Room
• Jump around in our fun snake jumper!
• Special fukubukuro (lucky bag) sale at gift shop
• Taste and purchase different varieties of rice.
• Omikuji (sacred lottery)
• Snake sculpture candy by world-renowned candy artist Shaun Ichiyanagi (For children only. Candy snakes will be raffled off at the start of every hour.)
• Reptile Petting Zoo
• Learn how to make onigiri rice balls in our Onigiri Contest.
• Zodiac animal face painting
• Start a lucky new year by making and eating zaru soba (buckwheat) noodles with Kidding Around the Kitchen.
• Learn how to play Japanese taiko drums with Bombu Taiko!
• Mochitsuki (traditional rice cake pound ceremony) performance and demonstration by Kodama Taiko.
