Toshikoshi Soba, or year-end buckwheat noodles, is a dish eaten annually on New Year’s Eve in Japan. This tasty tradition carries great significance and symbolizes the crossing over from one year to the next.

The custom of eating soba on New Year’s Eve is said to have started in the Edo Period (1603-1868). There are many theories behind the origins of this custom. One suggests that since buckwheat noodles are easier to cut than thicker varieties, it represents the cutting away of any bad luck built up over the course of the year.

Other beliefs point out how soba is healthy, so eating it is a great way to wish for good health in the new year. Since soba noodles are also long and thin, the noodles symbolize long life. Thus, it’s customary to eat them with the hope for longevity.

This time, I made a tempura soba. Since my kids are not a fan of fried shrimp at the moment, so I fried chikuwa (fish cake), Kanikama (fake crab meat), pumpkin aside with spring roll with ham and cheese. My family ate all of it. Yummy!

My family love dipping style soba. How about you?

A shimenawa is a rope used to mark the boundary between this world and the next at shrines and other sacred places where gods are worshipped.

A shimenawa with lucky charms and other decorations attached to it is called a shime-Kazari. This is also a part of the Shogatsu event, which means that the house with the shime-kazari is ready to welcome the god of the year and is a sacred place.

The presence of the shimekazari makes the place safe and pure for the gods of the year to come down with peace of mind.

Originally, shime-kazari was usually made of rice straw to wish for a good harvest, but recently, more and more traditional shime-kazari are being arranged.