Osechi is a traditional Japanese New Year's food meant to celebrate the changing of the seasons and make an offering to the gods. Hokkaido is known for its distinctive take on osechi, but what's even more unusual is when they start eating it. This time, we'll delve into Hokkaido's osechi customs and introduce how the locals spend their New Year's holidays!

It's common knowledge that osechi ryori (New Year's cuisine) is eaten on the morning of New Year's Day. However, in Hokkaido, there's a custom of eating osechi on New Year's Eve. This is said to be because the tradition of "Toshitori-zen" (year-end feast) remains strong in the region.

Toshitori-zen is a custom from the old lunar calendar where people would thank the gods for the past year, welcome the new year's gods, and eat the same meal that was offered to them, celebrating until the early hours of the next morning. In the lunar calendar, a day began at sunset, which is believed to be why the celebratory feast in Hokkaido started on the night of the 31st.

The New Year's Eve dinner table is laden with a host of Hokkaido's representative delicacies, led by osechi, and including sushi, crab, and assorted hors d'oeuvres. It's a joyous time for adults and children to spend together.

After a grand New Year's Eve party that lasts into the morning, New Year's Day is surprisingly quiet. It's common to see the osechi boxes refilled and served as a slightly luxurious breakfast alongside ozoni (mochi soup).

The Toshitori-zen custom is often highlighted for its lively New Year's Eve celebration, but spending New Year's Day in a relaxed manner is part of the package. In a way, since New Year's Eve is the main party, it might be just right to take it easy and relax on New Year's Day. Of course, there are also cases where another grand feast begins from noon on New Year's Day.

Hokkaido's osechi customs stand in stark contrast to the solemn atmosphere in which osechi is typically eaten. The dishes themselves also have some unique characteristics. In this chapter, we'll introduce the features of osechi commonly eaten in Hokkaido.

■Namasu
A classic osechi dish, namasu is a beautiful salad of daikon radish and carrots with an addictive sweet and sour taste. In some parts of Hokkaido, "hizu" (thinly sliced cartilage from a raw salmon's head) is added. This precious hizu, of which only a small amount can be taken from a single fish, has a delightful crunchy texture.

■Sushi
For family and relative gatherings, sushi is an easy and luxurious food. The author recalls that when relatives gathered at their grandmother's house, a large platter of colorful sushi would always be present alongside the osechi. One reason sushi is served in Hokkaido is the ready availability of fresh fish. A characteristic of Hokkaido-style sushi is preparing enough for the entire family to eat their fill.

■Iizushi
Iizushi is a local dish that appears around December, made by pickling fish with cabbage, shredded ginger, and rice koji for fermentation. In coastal areas, many people make it at home, with subtle differences in taste from one family to another. It also features a wide variety of fish, such as red salmon, sandfish, Atka mackerel, herring, and saury.

■Matsumae-zuke
Matsumae-zuke originated in the Matsumae domain and is made with local ingredients. It features a soy sauce-based flavor with ingredients like gagome kombu, dried squid, and herring roe. Because it contains many auspicious foods like kombu and herring roe, it has become a staple in Hokkaido's osechi.

■Umani
In Hokkaido, it's common to fill the third tier of the jubako (osechi box), the simmered dish section, with umani. In mainland Japan, this spot is usually for onishime or chikuzen-ni, but the ingredients are almost the same. Umani is characterized by its stronger sweet and savory flavor from sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. Furthermore, unique Hokkaido additions like naruto (fish cake) can make the umani visually vibrant.

■Kuchitori
This refers to a selection of Japanese sweets, such as sweet white bean paste molded into auspicious shapes like sea bream or shrimp, or yokan (sweet bean jelly). Generally, kuri kinton (sweet potato with chestnuts), datemaki (sweet rolled omelet), and kombu-maki (kelp rolls) are also considered types of kuchitori, but in Hokkaido, the term specifically refers to sweet confections. They start appearing in confectioneries, supermarkets, and convenience stores near the end of the year and are positioned as sweets to be eaten before opening the osechi.

■Kombu-maki
The kombu-maki (kelp rolls) in Hokkaido's osechi are mainly those with fillings cooked inside the kelp. The fillings include herring, salmon, cod roe, and shishamo smelt. While fish-filled kombu-maki are now eaten nationwide, the sheer variety is unique to Hokkaido.

■Chawan-mushi
Chawan-mushi (savory egg custard) is often served alongside osechi, but in Hokkaido, the ingredients and flavor are a bit different. For example, sweet-simmered chestnuts are used instead of ginkgo nuts, and lily bulbs are included. The lily bulbs used in chawan-mushi are in season from December, and most of the lily bulbs distributed nationwide are from Hokkaido. This is why they are often included. Another characteristic is that the chawan-mushi itself has a slightly sweeter taste.

Along with osechi, "ozoni" (mochi soup) graces the New Year's table. While Hokkaido's osechi often strongly reflects the local environment, the taste and type of mochi in ozoni vary completely depending on one's roots. For example, the soup can be salt-based, soy sauce-based, or even miso-based, and the mochi can be round, square, or filled with red bean paste—the varieties are countless.

This is because immigrants from all over Japan came to Hokkaido during the Meiji era, bringing their local ozoni recipes with them. This created a situation where even next-door neighbors might have different-tasting ozoni. Over time, ozoni has also been updated, and today, each family enjoys ozoni based on their own roots.

We've learned that eating osechi on New Year's Eve in Hokkaido isn't about getting a head start, but is rooted in the old lunar calendar's Toshitori-zen custom. It's also deeply moving to think that the many osechi dishes born from Hokkaido's environment were created by blending the unique cultures of each region. This year again, let's celebrate the New Year to the fullest, starting from New Year's Eve!