Japanese Consulate San Francisco Vice Consul Charged with Assualt and 14 Counts of Domestic Violence

Here is a great article on Japanese culture and a recipe for Toshikoshi Soba by Maki at Just Hungry.:

Even though Christmas has become big business in Japan in recent years, the real holiday at this time of year is New Year’s Day. The end of the old year, called shiwasu, is a hectic time, as people are busily celebrating with friends and colleagues at bounenkai, “forget the year” parties – besides wrapping up things at work and getting ready to go home for the holidays.

New Year’s Eve itself, however, is celebrated rather quietly by many people. There isn’t the big urge to go to a party, to send off the old year with champagne and fireworks and tooting horns. In a way Japanese people do things the opposite of how people in the West celebrate Christmas or Hannukah vs. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day: Christmas is an excuse to have a party (it also happens to be a big ‘date’ day, when couples stay for the night at a luxury hotel for a romantic party of two). New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and the few days afterwards are when you spend time with family at home. On New Year’s Eve, you’ll stay home and reflect on the old year, watch some year-ending entertainment programs on TV, and perhaps go to the local temple at midnight, while hearing the 108 rings of the bell to “ring away” the evils of the old year.

The traditional evening meal to have while waiting to greet the new year is a bowl of hot soba noodles, called  toshikoshi soba, which roughly means “end the old year and enter the new year soba noodles”. There is no one set recipe for this soba – they are probably as many varieties as there are households. At our house my mother simply prepared a straightforward bowl with hot soup, something on top such as a slice of kamaboko, a rather rubbery fishcake; perhaps some spinach or othe green leavy vegetable, a raw egg dropped on top just before serving. When a raw egg is used like this in a bowl of hot noodles, whether it’s soba or udon, it’s called tsukimi – moon-watching.

Click here to read the rest of the article and for the Toshikoshi Soba recipe. Enjoy, I know I will!