ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 2, 1996 TAG: 9601020200
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BETH DAY PASHLEY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 4, 1996.
Several errors were made in a Tuesday New River Current story about
Japanese New Year celebrations. The Japanese mail billions of cards,
called nengajo, between Dec. 15 and Dec. 28; the wrong dates were given
in the story. The name of Roanoke's Kabuki Japanese Steak House was
mispelled in a picture caption. Visitors to Kayo's Japanese Restaurant
in Christiansburg were served toshi koshi soba Dec. 26 through New
Year's Eve, and ozoni will be served through Sunday.
Mailed your nengajo yet?
Yes, your nengajo.
Nengajo are Japanese New Year's cards, actually postage-paid postcards with preprinted lottery numbers. The Japanese mail billions of nengajo between Dec. 5-28 with a guaranteed Jan. 1 delivery date - guaranteed for cards mailed in Japan, not the United States.
"If `nengajo' is written on top of the card, it is held by the Japanese post office and delivered on New Year's Day," explained Akio Koeda, the owner of Roanoke's Kabuki Japanese Steak House. The delayed delivery means families receive hundreds of cards on New Year's Day, but they have to wait until Jan. 7 to find out if they won the lottery.
Koeda, who opened his Franklin Road restaurant in 1982, sent 10 nengajo this year in the form of American holiday cards.
Each Japanese family sends an average of 100 nengajo each year as part of Shogatsu - the Japanese New Year festival, which runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7. During the festival, Japanese families eat traditional foods and visit shrines or temples.
But what if you live in Roanoke, Pembroke or Radford?
You are in good shape if you mailed your nengajo early enough to get to relatives and friends in Japan on time.
Fumiko Yamagami of Pembroke, the Japanese language instructor at Virginia Western Community College, mailed 50 nengajo to her relatives and friends.
She sent both American postcards and holiday cards. Airmail cost her about $1 per card.
"It's exciting to receive nengajo on the first of the year," Yamagami said, explaining that ``nenga'' means new year and ``jo'' means postcard.
She and a friend have sent nengajo to each other for more than 20 years. She looks forward to receiving one every year and learning how big her friends' children have grown. "Even though you don't write often, you write nengajo and you know what is happening."
These cards aren't the kind you find in your local drugstore. The proper nengajo is handwritten in the Japanese writing system's kanji, hiragana and katakana. Most nengajo bring this greeting: "Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu," which means best wishes for the new year.
One of the nengajo that Yamagami kept is a small, handmade red card folded in half with white rice paper. It opens to reveal an origami crane - called a tsuru - tucked inside. Kayoko Oshima of Radford, co-owner of Kayo's Japanese Restaurant in Christiansburg, made the card. Origami is the art of folding paper into shapes.
Several of Yamagami's other cards featured glossy pictures of kimono-clad children and beautiful illustrations of cranes. Cranes, turtles and pine trees are symbols of long life.
Some of her cards depicted the eto of the year - animals of the old 12-animal Chinese zodiac. 1995 was the year of the boar; 1996 is the year of the rat.
"The rat starts the 12-year cycle," Kabuki's Koeda said. The 12 animals are rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.
Kayoko Oshima sent about 100 nengajo this year. She mailed both homemade cards created from colorful, decorative Japanese washi paper and American postcards. Oshima's daughter, Wakako, also sent nengajo to her friends in Japan.
To celebrate the holiday, Kayoko Oshima will prepare the traditional New Year's Eve meal - toshi koshi soba, which means old-year-passing noodles. The long buckwheat noodles symbolize long life.
Both Yamagami and Koeda explained that New Year's Eve is the busiest day of the year for Japan's noodle shops.
"On New Year's Eve in Japan, everyone watches TV or goes to visit shrines. At midnight, everyone is eating noodles," Koeda said. "New Year's Day is the most important holiday in Japan. Everyone closes [their businesses] except restaurants near shrines or temples. Most companies close from Dec. 29-Jan. 3 - at least five days."
To get a taste of the Japanese New Year here, visitors to Kayo's will be served toshi koshi soba from Tuesday through Monday and ozoni from Jan. 2-7. Both will be free with lunch and dinner. Ozoni is a special soup made with fish broth, mochi (sticky cakes of pounded glutinous rice) and vegetables.
"Oeschi ryori means holiday cooking," Koeda said. "In the old style, the mother makes enough food for three days. There's lots of eating and drinking sake." His family will eat ozoni and then sukiyaki (pronounced skiyaki) when they celebrate the new year. Since Kabuki is busy during the holidays, it will be open Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The staff will take their New Year's holiday Jan. 2 .
Other Japanese customs for Shogatsu include cleaning both the home and office before Jan. 1, and hatsumode - visiting shrines or temples to pray for good luck in the coming year. Female family members dress up in their kimonos.
Without Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to visit, Japanese families in and around Roanoke will celebrate together.
"We're going to get together with close friends and eat traditional foods," Wakako Oshima said.
The most popular tradition with Japanese children is otoshidama - receiving money from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents' friends. The money is placed in small specially marked envelopes. The minimum gift is $50, with most gifts averaging $100. (The currency of Japan is yen.)
"I remember when I got $5-$10. I was happy. Kids are rich now. They can make $1,000-$2,000 - easily." Koeda said. "Usually, children receive otoshidama until they finish school or college or until they make their own money."
Some traditional games children play on New Year's Day are kite flying (takoage), badminton (hayoeta) and tops (koma).
Some important "firsts" of the new year include watching the first sunrise (from a beach or mountaintop is preferred), experiencing the first dream of the year, visiting a shrine or temple and getting the first haircut.
Beth Day Pashley, a staff writer, lived in Japan for two years and collected nengajo.
Here's a quick guide to the Japanese New Year Festival
Shogatsu - The Japanese New Year Festival
Nengajo - New Year's Day cards
Toshi Koshi Soba - Buckwheat noodles served on New Year's Eve
Ozoni - A special soup made with mochi served on New Year's Day
Mochi - Sticky cakes of pounded glutinous rice
Kanami Mochi - A decoration of stacked rice balls (pounded to a paste) with an orange on top. It is placed in the house or on the family shrine
Eto - Animals of the old 12-animal Chinese zodiac
Otoshidama - Money in small envelopes for children
Koma - Top (toy)
Takoage - Kite
Hayoeta - A badminton-like game
Hatsumode - A visit to a temple or shrine to pray for a good new year
Omamori - Charms
Hamaya - A charm in the shape of an arrow that protects the home and family
Joyanokane - The ringing of a temple or shrine bell when the new year starts
Kadomatsu - Boughs of pine, bamboo and plum placed in homes
NOTE: Also ran in January 4, 1996 Neighbors.
LENGTH: Long : 148 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Akio Koeda, owner of Roanoke'sby CNBKabukmi Japanese Steak House, with a few of his New Year's cards. 2.
Fumiko Yamagami of Pembroke, the Japanese language instructor at
Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, mailed 50 nengajo -
Japanese New year's cards- to her relatives and friends. Airmail
cost her about $1 per card.