Tag: new year

Japanese New Year

Posted on by Hijiri

I have been having such a great time in Japan, but it is time to say good-bye and get back to my creative life in New York… I am leaving tomorrow morning, traveling all day, all night, and another day long (sigh, soo long) — just wanted to post some more pictures from Japanese new year before it is too late to even talk about it… (time really flies!)

Hatsuhinode (first sunrise of the year):

Omikuji (random fortunes):

My omikuji being attached to a wall of metal wires in the shrine (read more about it here)

Osechi (traditional Japanese New Year foods):

Love this special chopstick cover — do you see the embossed art? The silver and gold Mizuhiki knot is great, too.

I want to thank all my family and friends who made this trip even more special. I got lots of great energy from them and I couldn’t thank them enough!!! I can’t wait to use this energy to create something new this year!!!

See you all later this week from New York — will be back fully, posting 1-2 posts everyday again :)

Kagami Mochi

Posted on by Hijiri

I posted the Kadomatsu picture yesterday, but there are many more traditional new year decorations here in Japan and today, I wanted to share some pictures of Kagami Mochi. The kagami mochi usually is placed in various locations throughout the house. My parents had 3, various sizes.

January 11th (yesterday) was Kagami biraki (another traditional ceremony after new years day) so we ate these mochi in Zenzai (Red Bean Soup) — one of my favorites!

Mochi does get hard and cracks… (but it gets soft again when cooked in certain way) and sometimes get moldy, but we all eat them anyway. (take the moldiness off, of course)

This one has Hoshigaki (dried persimmons) — hadn’t had it for a long time, it is quite good.

Urajiro leaves:

Japanese new year is so very traditional and it’s been the same way for thousands of years, it is so interesting and deeply thought out. (everything has meaning) I’ve been enjoying everything once again!

Year 2010

Posted on by Hijiri

Hello, hello!! It’s me! How are you, everyone? It’s year 2010! How has your new year been so far?! I hope you are off to a great start! Mine has been pretty awesome — spending a quality time with my family and friends, traveling around and seeing lots of great places/things here in Japan, eating lots of yummy foods… I couldn’t ask for more :)

Just wanted to stop by here and say hi real quick :) I have so many pictures already, I hope to share them all here so please stay tuned…

Picture is from Japanese new year — “kadomatsu” in front of my parents’ pharmacy.

I have so many hopes and things I’d love to accomplish this year, I still need to sit down and really think about them… it’s always nice to have a goal!

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and exciting new year 2010!!!