Title: New Year Foods in Japan

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Material Folklore: Superstition

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Japan

Informant Data:

Leeya is a current sophomore (’20) at Dartmouth College. She lives in Hawaii and is native Hawaiian as well as Japanese. When she was younger she spent summers in Japan attending elementary school. She speaks Japanese and English.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: The informant learned of these superstitions from older figures such as her parents as well as from practicing them.

• Cultural Context: The superstitions pertaining to foods is largely symbolic, likely unique to Japan but not necessarily exclusive to it, as noted by the informant.

Item:

Leeya says that it is customary to eat certain foods around the new year to bring good luck, as different ones symbolize different things. These foods are collectively called Osechi-ryōri. She explains how buckwheat noodles, called toshi-koshi soba, are eaten because the noodles are long, therefore representing long life.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

“On new years you’re supposed to eat certain foods it’s called osechi-ryōri. Each food has its own meaning, for example there’s like soba – toshi-koshi soba and that’s supposed to signify long life because, you know, the noodles are long.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Most foods are eaten because they are symbolic.

Collector’s Comments:

• The symbolism makes a lot of sense. Some followup research I did on my own explained that another popular item is shrimp, as it’s curved shape and long whiskers resemble a bent-over old man .

Collector’s Name: Natt Chan

Tags/Keywords:

• Superstition/Good Luck/Japan/Food