Noodle soup ties me to Japanese New Year, and my roots – plus the recipe Marie Mutsuki Mockett
Every year my mother would make a bowl of Japanese New Year’s Eve noodles for my American father and me. “Just this one tradition,” she would entreat; she didn’t like American New Year, and longed for Japanese-style festivities. One year, I found one of my noodles tied in a knot, which she assured me was a sign of good fortune. I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t even really like noodles.
It was not until I was in my 20s that I experienced a full winter holiday in Japan. On New Year’s Eve, my family went to visit friends in Handa, my mother’s home town about 350km west of Tokyo. We counted down the hours with sake and sushi and then, close to midnight, went to the local shrine.
TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
In Japan, Semi-translucent Ro-bai 蝋梅 Blossoms ( Japanese allspice) are The New Year`s First Tree-based Flowers to Bloom and Fill The Winter Air With a Welcome Fragrance
21 January, 2021
Ro-bai blooming in Tsukuba in January
By Avi Landau
Just a day earlier I had been walking through the woods, and one of my companions excitedly cried out : SO-BAI (早梅) , which in Japanese indicates plum blossoms that bloom earlier in the year than usual.
The next day, with that word, then new to me, still ringing in my ears, I arrived at the farm of a friend of mine who lives up in Hitachi Omiya ( in central Ibaraki Prefecture). As I opened the car door and was stepping out, I was enveloped in a thick, sweet fragrance.
[비바100] 닛케이가 뽑은 2021년 히트 예감 BEST : 100세시대의 동반자 브릿지경제 viva100.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from viva100.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gallery1988 opens two shows online on Friday, including 30 Years Later: Celebrating Your Favorite Films from 1991. (Image: Zita Walker, courtesy of Gallery1988)
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