Yoshie Doi

The 6th Okudosan Summit November 10, 2024 Yamasaki house Courtyard

　November 23rd is a national holiday, Labor Thanksgiving Day. Do you know the difference between a national holiday　（shukujitsu） and a national holiday　（saijitu )? The current new calendar was established in 1873. Before that, the old calendar was used. The Niiname-sai festival has been held since the Asuka period, but the date of November 23rd was established in 1873. The Niiname-sai festival was a national holiday, but after the war it became Labor Thanksgiving Day and became a national holiday.

　At the start of the Meiji era, the purpose was to carry out politics centered on the Emperor, and after World War II, it was changed to “Labor Thanksgiving Day” to separate the Emperor’s events. Since “Labor Thanksgiving Day” is on November 23rd every year, the Niiname-sai Festival will be held on November 23rd (Saturday, national holiday) in 2024. The date was different in the old calendar.

　At Japanese shrines, the Niiname Festival is held on November 23rd. This is a Shinto ritual to give thanks to the gods for the year’s harvest. It is an event that appears in the Kojiki.

　Before this Niiname-sai festival, it was customary not to eat new rice. This custom is still observed by the Imperial family.
　In addition, the Kannamesai is a festival held at Ise Shrine where the first grains harvested that year are offered to Amaterasu Omikami to express gratitude for the blessings of heaven. It is a court ritual that has been held since the Heian period and is held one month before the Niinamesai.

　Originally, this ceremony was held about two months before the Niiname-sai festival, but after 1879 (Meiji 12), with the adoption of the new calendar and a one-month delay, the interval was shortened to about one month.

　We would like to pass on to the next generation the history of rice-producing countries, which have always treasured rice, which is at the heart of their food. Now is the perfect time to start preparing for the New Year.

　It seems that the custom of eating osechi dishes has been declining year by year, but a survey in 2006 showed that people were moving away from osechi. A company called Kibun launched the New Year’s Nippon Project, and since the Heisei era, various initiatives have been implemented, and the number of households preparing osechi dishes for New Year’s has been increasing by 1%.

　In recent years, especially, there has been a trend of buying osechi dishes, but Tokyo Shoko Research reports that Japanet Takata Co., Ltd., which sells osechi dishes with 70 different items, has had the highest sales in Japan for two consecutive years. Approximately 80% of people buy osechi dishes.

　Originally, the basis of osechi was centered around three dishes: black beans, herring roe, and pounded burdock in Kyoto (Kansai), and black beans, herring roe, and rice (gomame/tazukuri) in Kanto. It began with these three being offered to the gods along with rice cakes. In the theory of yin and yang and the five elements, both black beans and burdock are considered to be foods that ward off evil, and osechi cuisine is a food that is considered to be auspicious.

　The original meaning of the first three days of the New Year was to take a break from housework and eat the osechi dishes that had been prepared in order to welcome the New Year God. Ozoni is also eaten along with osechi. Ozoni was originally made on the night of New Year’s Eve, during the Muromachi period, when the leftover rice cakes that had been offered to the gods were eaten as zoni, and people began to stew whatever vegetables they had on hand to eat as zoni.

　Osechi and ozōni have become staples of the New Year, as they are believed to bring good health and prosperity. We made ozōni using the rice cakes from the 6th Okudosan Summit, which we held the other day. It was very delicious.

The end of document
Translated by Masami Otani

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