Minminp's Journal, 01 Jan 20

Amazing! 😋👍👍 

it was too good and i ate too much 😅 

Is it a tradition in Japan having these beautiful bento 🍱 on new year’s day? I can see other Japanese users here had large bento meals which looks so delicious. 😋👍 

it's called 'osechi (お節)' every food in osechi has wishe for good luck, prosperity, longevity, wealth and so on. most of the foods are very salty or sweet to stay in the room temperature for days. they are meant to be eaten for at least three days of the new year so that women don't have to work at all, but take a good rest at home. the boxes are not actually bento boxes, but they are for much more formal occasions. the tradition of eating specially made foods in lackered boxes itself isn't so old. before that, every region or family had cerebrated the new year with different foods with the best dishes or boxes they had. also, we have a bowl of rice cake soup for new year. the broth, seasonings, vegetables, meat , fish or vegetarian, in it are totally different by the regions unlike osechi.  

By the way, mine is in the style of osechi, but it is actually made by a French chef, so there is nothing Japanese in it, but we had four gras, liver pate, duck confit, roasted meat and lots of fat lol We don't like traditional osechi taste as it's sickly sweet. 

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. 😊 🙏 Food looked prepared with a lot of efforts, and different from the regular Japanese food that I used to know, which is why I became curious. All look great, and I would like to try one someday. 😋🙏 

not at all. if you want to try osechi, you should be staying in japan on 31st Dec-1st Jan. Although it must be expensive to stay in a hotel then, some hotels, including business hotels, offer osechi foods in a buffet style for breakfast. perhaps you can buy it in a little bento style at a supermarket for a cheaper option. As I told you, everything in it is very salty or sweet 😅 sugar used to be precious back then.