A few days after thawing out from our ski trip in Gunma we visited Kojma-chan and her parents in Yokohama. It was still the new year period and Kojima-chan wanted us to experience the traditional Japanese way of celebration.

To start off we were treated to some traditional Japanese new year cusine called Osechi, (お節料理, above) a combination of various light dishes like fishcakes, konbu and chestnuts. I adored some and abhorred others, but the beautiful colours and exquisite presentation was no doubt an eye opener.

After we had our fill of food the girls changed into kimonos and we headed out for Takoage ( kite flying, another traditional new year activity. (For those of us in Singapore who grew up accustomed to Chinese New Year celebrations this might sound like a very strange thing to do; but I guess the same can be said of our own traditions from a Japanese’s point of view.) Kojima’s father prepared a smashing Hokusai kite just for today.

(below) Off to the kite flying grounds.

Prepping the take off.

And off it goes !

There was nary a draught, much less any wind that evening so I can’t say the kite flying met with much success, but it was nice to take a walk out after so much food, and the scenery was pretty, the air refreshing and cool.

And finally a visit to the nearby shrine to wish for some good luck for the coming new year.

Osechi entry in Wikipedia
Hokusai entry in Wikipedia
Japanese New Year entry in Wikipedia