New Year's Meal Video

A few weeks ago I made a post about the Oscechi ryori ( New Year's meal in Japan) that my inlaws gave my wife and I. I took footage the same day and then promptly forgot I took it. While searching for something else on my computer the other night, I found it. I decided to put this video together.

Prepare to look at some REALLY delicious Japanese food!

New Year Finished

The Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu 正月) has come and gone. It was my first New Year in Japan and it was definitely an interesting one. On New Years Eve, I went hiking on Mt. Ikoma 生駒山 in Osaka with a new friend, Andrew. He's been in Japan for quite some time and a seasoned Mt. Ikoma veteran. He showed me a really good hike. We started on the Osaka side of the mountain and came down the other side in Nara Prefecture.

New Years day saw me visiting Nishinomiya Shrine 西宮神社 in the city of Nishinomiya. We went there to for Hatsumode 初詣. Hatsumode is the first visit of the year to the shrine for Japanese people. Many go there after midnight on January 1st and if not, they go during the daytime on the 1st. People offer money to the shrine, pray and often get their fortune.


Here's a quick little unedited video of my Hatsumode trip to Nishinomiya Shrine on the afternoon of January 1st.

Hatsumode 初詣 Nishinomiya Shrine



Here's another very cool perspective on Hatsumode. Elevencolors, a Japanese based vlogger, who lives in Tokyo went to Hatsumode at the Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 in downtown Tokyo after midnight on New Years. He stood in line for hours. The crowds here are HUGE!

初詣 ～ Hatsumode



So, my holidays are about to come to an end. 3 weeks of blissful "not working" are about to all fall apart on Monday morning as I head back to school. My first New Year in Japan was a wonderful learning experience and a great chance to learn about my new family and their culture. All very cool stuff...well, not about having to go back to work!

oshogatsu 正月, Big Burgers and World Wide Features

It's another weekend and the New Year is quickly approaching. This will be my first "oshogatsu" 正月 (New Year season) in Japan and I'm excited. We'll visit a local shrine with family in the Japanese tradition, but won't be downtown for the countdown. Watching it on TV from home with some bubbly and suds is always the best way for me!

Lots of craziness around town this week.

McDonald's has finally unleashed the Quater Pounder hamburger on Japan. McDonald's is VERY popular in Japan and now this will be their biggest hamburger. Thousands of people stood in line in Osaka this week to get one. Funny thing was; it was leaked to the news that more than 1000 of the people standing in line were indeed PLANTS! Yep, they were actually paid by MacDonald's to stand in line and make it look like more of a spectacle. Funny stuff. You can see some pictures and read more about it here.


In less "burgerish" news. Congrats must go out to Japan-based You Tube vlogger Fatblueman. His original song and video "Christmas in Japan", just got featured worldwide on the You Tube front page. Yesterday he had less than 90,000 hits (which is damn good anyway) and when I last checked a few minutes ago, he was pushing 320,000 hits! AWESOME. Of course I'm really partial to this cause I have a small part in the video.

Tomorrow will be a day of cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. One Japanese tradition, "oosouji" sees people all over the land doing a MASSIVE and hardcore house cleaning just before the new year. Well, my lovely wife informed me today that tomorrow will indeed be the day. I'm by no means looking forward to it, especially since I've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks and have grown lazier by the minute. BUT, I will of course do my best to clean and help out.