The term osechi originally referred to o-sechi, a season or significant period. New Year's Day was one of the five seasonal festivals (節句 sekku) in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. This custom of celebrating particular days was introduced from China into Japan.
Originally, during first three days of the New Year it was a taboo to use a hearth and cook meals, except when cooking zōni. Osechi was made by the close of the previous year, as women did not cook in the New Year.
In the earliest days, osechi consisted only of nimono, boiled vegetables with soy sauce and sugar or mirin. Over the generations, the variety of food included in osechi has increased. Today osechi may refer to anything prepared specially for the New Year, and some foreign dishes have been adopted as "Westernized osechi" (西洋お節 seiyō-osechi) or as "Chinese-style osechi" (中華風お節 chūkafū osechi). And while osechi was traditionally prepared at home, it is also sold ready-made in specialty stores, grocery stores, and even convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven.
Especially in households where osechi is still homemade, toshi-koshi soba (年越し蕎麦) is eaten on New Year's Eve. Its name literally means "year-crossing soba." Although there may be some symbolism attributed to it (i.e., long life, health and energy in the upcoming year), this tradition may be regarded as largely pragmatic: the traditional wife, busy cooking several days' worth of food for everyone, would likely prefer to make something simple for immediate consumption. It is considered bad luck by many Japanese to leave any toshi-koshi soba uneaten.
credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi
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Osechi - Japanese New Year's food - Japanese holiday food
About Japanese New year's food - osechi ryori - New year's food recipes.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesenewyearfood/a/newyearfood.htm
Osechi - Japanese New Year's cuisine - bento.com
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http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html
Happy Japanese New Year! | Japanese Food 101
28 Dec 2005 ... It's traditional custom for Japanese people to eat O-sechi (traditional food for the New Year) and O-zoni (rice cake and fish based soup) ...
http://www.japanesefood101.com/index.php/festive-food-for-the-new-year/happy-japanese-new-year/
Wes at Home - Eats - Japanese New Year Food - Osechi
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http://www.killerrobot.com/wes/eats_japanese_new_year_food_osechi.html
The Food Librarian: Oshogatsu Japanese New Years Food (Osechi Ryori) - New Years Post #3
That was probably way more than you ever wanted to know about Japanese and Japanese American New Years traditions and food! Happy New Year everyone! ...
http://foodlibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/01/oshogatsu-japanese-new-years-food.html
Japanese New Year Food, Japanese New Year
New Year celebrations in Japan have typical dishes. Special Japanese desserts, unique Japanese cakes and a magical soup that helps you digest all this extra ...
http://www.tokyo-top-guide.com/Japanese_New_Year_Food.html
Japanese New Year Food 100 images - Royalty Free Photos, Stock ...
Mixa > Japanese New Year Food (mx026). Japanese New Year Food Images ... Japanese New Year Food. No of images. : 100. Size / Output / Format ...
http://www.inmagine.com/japanese-new-year-food-photos/mixa-mx026
