2010- the year of the Tiger! Japan also follows the Chinese calendar. Some calendars instead of having the year, 2010,they note how many years the current emperor has been on the throne- 22 years. Christmas decorations came down on Dec. 26th; and up went the new decorations welcoming in the new year.




















Most of the decorations have some sort of natural roping, greenery, and stalks of grain. The sole purpose of the Japanese new year decorations is to honor cultural beliefs, and customs; that it will usher in prosperity for the new year.


Like many cultures, food is associated with special holidays. A Japanese friend took Martin to a supermarket to show him the items his family would eat on New Year's Eve. The market had several sample stations so he was able to try most all the customary foods. He said of the different foods he sampled, the most tasty was steamed and pickled octopus; with the least desireable being compressed cod eggs.

These are rice cakes made from processed rice. We watched them take the rice and pound it into a dough ball about the size of a mixing bowl. It was then put into a divided tray where you have this result.
We bought a package and tried eating them as is, only to find that they were very hard and not very tasty. This morning we asked our language teacher about them and she showed us that we were to bake them until toasted, then dip them into soy sauce and eat. (She laughed when we told her we had tried to eat them - she said it would be like eating a candle!) Somehow, by browning, the heat made the cakes soft and palatable.


Another food preferred for New Year's is dried squid. We purchsed this squid and had good intentions of eating, but when we opened the package, we changed our minds!!

Martin took me back to the supermarket and I had the opportunity to sample the pickled octopus and cod eggs. I agreed with Martin, the pickled octopus wasn't too bad; the jury is still out on the eggs.