Do you like zouni?
In Japan we have the custom of eating zouni on New Year’s day. Zouni is rice cakes boiled with vegetables. As I like it very much, I have done a little research about it.
It is said that the beginning of zouni was in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (approximately 1568 to 1600). People ate zouni on New Year’s Day and prayed to god for a perfect state of health.
Generally, in the north and east of Japan, square rice cakes are eaten and in the west of Japan round rice cakes are eaten.
The ways of making zouni differ from place to place. For example, in Iwate prefecture, people eat zouni with walnut sauce. In Fukui prefecture people put a turnip into zouni; the turnip is a good-luck token in Japan. In Hokkaido people eat very splendid zouni. People put crab, salmon, and salmon roe into it. In Tottori prefecture, very sweet zouni is eaten. People put round rice cakes into adzuki (red soy bean) soup. It is called zenzai in other prefectures. In Okinawa prefecture people don’t have the habit of eating zouni.
Though I said that the ways of making zouni differ from place to place, it is not decided strictly. Actually, people often get married to a person who is from another prefecture, so the ways of making zouni are united there. And new original zouni are born.
By the way, I put green laver in zouni. What kinds of special zouni do you know? I want to know about your home’s original zouni. And I want to eat every prefecture’s special zouni.
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Comments (2)
Rudolf
wrote on January 11, 2006:
Does zenzai really count as zouni? You can get it at so many places throughout the year that it probably doesn’t qualify—or are there other types of zouni that you can get year-round?
Also: not strictly on topic, but I wonder anyway: around the holiday season, at many places in Japan there are big rice cakes on display with a tangerine on top, for example at a hotel front desk, or at a restaurant. I imagine somebody is going to eat this rice cake —so is there a special ceremony associated with this custom, maybe that the boss would eventually cut the cake and hand everyone a piece?
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tomoya
wrote on January 12, 2006:
We distinguish zouni and zenzai, but people who live in Tottori prefecture don’t eat zouni which we call. Their zouni means zennzai in other prefectures.
The big rice cakes on display with a tangerine ontop is called Kagamimoti in Japanese. It is offered to a god.
On January 11th, there is a little act of ceremony. It is called Kagamibiraki. People eat many rice cakes (which were cut from the Kagamimoti).
If the rice cakes are genuine, they may be eaten by someone.
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Anime/Manga Traditional Japanese activities on New Year's Day