Osechi: Japanese New Year Food Traditions (Ep. 184)

Dec 9, 2025

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What if the meal sitting in those beautiful lacquered boxes held messages from the gods?

In Japan, osechi-ryōri isn't just New Year's food—it's a sacred offering. Each dish carries specific wishes: black beans for health, herring roe for prosperity, lotus root for clear vision into the future. Families prepare them before midnight, then rest for three days while Toshigami-sama, the deity of the coming year, visits every home.

But why can't you use knives during the first three days? What happens to the kitchen god? And why do martial arts schools break open mirror-shaped mochi in January?

Thersa shares her in-laws' traditions of food exchanges, the evolution from handmade to convenience store osechi, and the deeper spiritual layers beneath each symbolic dish.

This episode of Uncanny Japan is brought to you by Spectrevision Radio, a podcast network of creators and entertainers with a love for horror, the paranormal, and championing the "other." Check out the rest of the podcasts at www.spectrevisionradio.com.

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Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

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