Çmisoka"Æmisoka is probably the busiest day of the year for most Japanese families. My family is no exception to this. My major duty when I was little was to assist my mother with shopping for groceries for dinner. As I encountered my favorites on the food shelves, I would often grab and throw them in her shopping cart. We would buy enough food for all family members and relatives to eat on Çmisoka as well as o-shÇgatsu. |
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"My family lived in Iwate Prefecture, whose east side faces the Pacific Ocean, so naturally we would always have seafood of good quality at an inexpensive price. As a matter of fact, there is no traditional dinner menu for Çmisoka, but my family has sashimi and sushi as the main dishes. In addition, we have mochi (steamed and pounded sweet rice cakes), which we offer on Buddhist and Shinto altars in our house.
"My family belongs to the New Pure Land sect of Buddhism. All family members are supposed to join their hands in prayer and then to bow to the altars just before we eat. On this occasion, I was told to pay my respects to our ancestors and thank them for everything good that happened that year. We were to clap our hands twice before a Shinto alter, but not before a Buddhist one.
"Just before midnight, all temples around the country began to ring jyoya-no-kane (the bells speeding the old year). As I listened to the bells, I usually ate soba, which is believed to bring good luck. Soba (long, thin, buckwheat noodles) is eaten with the wish for long life. I went out with my family to visit a shrine, where we would make a wish for the best luck for the coming year, while throwing some coins in the offertory box. It is believed that the sooner you make a wish right after Çmisoka, the more possibility of it being granted. Since my hometown is quite small and quiet, you would never see a crazy throng of people trying to be the first to make a wish right after midnight.
"As far as I remember, this family ritual on Çmisoka has been done year after year. Now that I live far away from my hometown, the feast on Çmisoka is becoming the big reason that I would like to return home to Japan. There is no place like home, especially on Çmisoka."
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Document Revision: by easc@indiana.edu |
