nen-matsu

【年末】nen-matsu, end of the year.

alas we've come to the end of 2014. after the tinsel and glitter of christmas -- and i do mean RIGHT AFTER -- japan turns into nen-matsu-mode with traditional japanese music everywhere you turn, decorations like shime-nawa and kagami-mochi (like the one pictured above).

this is actually my first year to put up an actual kagami-mochi, which is pounded mochi rice that they shape into two rounds, a big one on top and a small one on the bottom, with either mikan or daidai at the top (the little clementine looking guy). now buying it is all well and good, but i had no idea WHEN to actually put it on display, so naturally i decided to ask my husband since he's, y'know, japanese. 

"hey," i says to him, "so when do we put this thing on display?" the kagami-mochi is sitting in a vacuum-sealed piece of plastic at this point.

"uh... the 31st...?" 

clearly he's making this up and has no clue.

"oh really?" i says, pulling out my iphone, "let's see what google has to say then."

according to the internets, kagami-mochi is traditionally set on display on the 28th, because 8 is a lucky number, and then it's taken down and eaten on 1/11 (having all those 1s in a row is apparently auspicious). so after boiling the mochi in its plastic packaging, i set it on a piece of white paper with red edges (red and white as auspicious as well), and then bought a bag of small mikan with their leaves still attached and balanced one precariously on top. and voila! 

now all that's left to do is to wait until the 11th and either boil or broil it to crispy mochi perfection!

hope everyone has a great new year, and look forward to more posts in 2015!!