Kagami-mochi is the offering made when welcoming Toshigami, the deity of the new year, and every part of its decoration has a meaning. The custom of offering it is said to have begun in the Muromachi period. January 11 is the day of kagami-biraki.
Sources: maff.go.jp
This moment in the journey
Getting ready for the New Year
Mustn't forget the New Year preparations. By the window I set out a small kagami-mochi topped with a fan and an orange-colored fruit. Kagami-mochi is an offering for Toshigami, the deity of the new year, who is welcomed into the home.
On the table, sweets wrapped in blue paper sat in a round bentwood box, with a card bearing the name 花斗六. According to the card, they bring out the flavor of large white runner beans, with a moist sweetness. I poured tea from a blue-and-white pot and took a break.
I wondered how the people who lived in this house in the Taisho era spent their Decembers. Winter sun slipped into a narrow lane between wooden fences.
Watch this scene on YouTube1:15
More notes from this journey
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Kyoto-style ozoni (white miso New Year soup)
Ozoni in and around Kyoto is built on kombu dashi and white miso, with round mochi, taro, carrot and daikon.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Osechi (datemaki, red-and-white namasu, decorated kamaboko)
Each osechi dish carries a wish.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Toshikoshi soba (nihachi soba)
The custom of eating soba on New Year's Eve is said to have spread among ordinary people in the Edo period.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Shimogamo Shrine (Kamomioya-jinja)
Its official name is Kamomioya-jinja.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Takase River
A canal running alongside the Kamo River.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
Kyoto City, Kyoto
Kyogoku Kaneyo
An eel restaurant said to date from the Meiji era (some say the Taisho era), in a wooden building that keeps the look of its early days.
From: Making New Year's Eve soba in a Kyoto townhouse
More notes from Kinki
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Chestnut rice (kuri gohan)
My first chestnut rice, made with chestnuts I had picked myself.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Charcoal-grilled saury with sudachi
Sanma is written 秋刀魚, "autumn sword fish," but that spelling only spread from the Taisho era on; older texts wrote it 青串魚.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Wakayama bonito and mandarin carpaccio
In contrast to the lean first bonito of spring, the fish that head south from around September are called modori-gatsuo, returning bonito.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Foil-grilled mushrooms with butter
Mushrooms are another essential of the autumn table.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Mehari-zushi
A Wakayama specialty: a large rice ball wrapped in salt-pickled takana leaves.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Umeboshi and red shiso rice ball
Wakayama grows more ume than any other prefecture in Japan: 58% of the national harvest in 2024 (64% the year before).
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen