Winter Celebrations 2023-2024

During the winter season, we were busy with different celebrations.

Mochitsuki:

Mochitsuki (餅つき) is a Japanese New Year's tradition to make mochi (rice cake). Mochi is made by pounding sweet rice. We did this the previous time we were in Japan, and we honored to be invited back to make some mochi the traditional way again.

Christmas:

We actually didn't get Christmas Day off. Instead we had English lessons for the local Japanese community members in our area. After lessons in the morning, we prepared for a Japanese Christmas meal: KFC and Christmas cake. We also played some games with our neighbors and enjoyed the evening here.

New Year's Eve: 

We hung out with friends for New Years Eve. We ate Japanese New Year soba noodles, zenzai sweet red bean soup with mochi, and hot chocolate. We walked around Downtown Himeji and saw the illuminations and castle grounds before making our way to catch a bus to Mt. Shosha farther north in the city.

We took a cable car up and waited in line a few hours to ring the bell. The first 108 people got to ring the bell and received a couple of small gifts including a dragon-shaped bar of soap. I was 21st and Blake was 24th. It is a New Year Buddhist and Shinto tradition. While waiting in line we got to meet @froggiesensei and practiced a little français! It was fun and made the time fly by. Afterwards we walked around Maniden, the temple grounds and caught the last cable car down!

New Year and Friendsgiving: 

After New Year's Eve, we had osechi. Osechi is a traditional Japanese New Year's food that comes in a special box that looks like a bento box. They can be quite high in price as some are meant to have food for multiple days. We also visited Himeji Gokoku Shrine near the castle and got a new year goshuin with a dragon on it since this is the year of the dragon. Walking around nearby we found a flea market at Otemae Park, and we had to stop to check out some of the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Lastly, a few days into 2024, we met with some friends and had a 'late' Friendsgiving meal. It all came out delicious thanks to the main chef Lillian, it was like a Thanksgiving meal back home.