Happy New Year!

The New Year is once again upon us, which is always a big occasion for the Japanese. In Japan, New Year’s Day is a national holiday and the single most important day of the year. For the first two weeks of the year, people share prayers, give gifts of money to their children, gather for lavish meals, and greet each other with “akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu!” (“Happy New Year!”)

A big part of the festivities comes in the form of traditional Japanese cooking. People will dine heavily on a variety of dishes, each one with a special symbolic significance. They’ll eat soba to symbolize longevity, herring roe for fertility, pink fish for good luck, and more. So, when you’d like to celebrate the Japanese way, make your way down to our Japanese restaurant in Bothell for real, Japanese-style dining!