■New Year’s is an important time for Japanese people

Hello, dear followers and readers. I’m TOSHI, a Japanese woman.

How was everyone’s New Year’s?

New Year’s is an important time for Japanese people. We clean the house thoroughly, gather together as a family, eat a feast, and celebrate the new year.

It was my first New Year’s since getting married.

I was able to celebrate with my husband and my brother.

I was so happy to have a new family member. It’s been several years since I’ve been able to relax and watch TV with my brother.

My husband, who is great at cleaning, made the house sparkle. He loves cleanliness.

He can be strict with me sometimes, though.

He also worked hard during the company’s end-of-year cleaning, apparently sprucing up areas that no one had cleaned in a while.

He also made our bathroom sparkle. That’s a big help…

■A luxurious osechi (traditional Japanese, Western, and Chinese fusion)

We ordered a slightly more luxurious osechi from our nearby hotel.

This is a New Year’s dish called “osechi.” It seems to be a fusion of Japanese, Western, and Chinese cuisine.

In the old  days,food was made in bulk at the end of the year and ate by everyone on New Year’s Day,which meant that even women could take a break during New Year’s.

The herring roe was delicious. It’s fish roe. It symbolizes fertility.

Shrimp symbolizes longevity, as it means “living until your back is bent.”

A fusion of Japanese, Western, and Chinese cuisine,

In the “Chinese cuisine” section,

we had this.

Look at these peach buns. They look like buttocks and are so cute. Apparently they’re considered lucky charms in China.

Afterwards, we also saw Kabuki.I’m not particularly fond of Kabuki, but watching it with the audio commentary on was more interesting than I expected.

In Kabuki, female roles are played by men. This woman is a man.

But even when seen up close, onnagata (female role actors) look like women. If men think they look like women, then I can see the same thing too. It made me think I need to work on improving my presentation as a woman this year…

My husband and brother were having a great time talking about anime.

■My father

On New Year’s Day, my husband drove us all to visit my father in a nursing home.

He seemed very happy. He seems to have a bit of Alzheimer’s, but he talks to us quite normally.

He’s completely forgotten that our mother passed away, and sometimes he says, “I want to see her,” or he’ll see my mother in a photo and ask, “Who is that?”

He remembered my husband the other day and was happy, but this time he said, “I only have a vague recollection.”

He said, “But I quite like this place (the nursing home). I like greenery,” which was a relief, but then I wondered if there was really that much greenery there.

He said, “I often go golfing, too,” and it was so serious that it was a bit surprising.

“Growing old isn’t easy,” I think every time I see my father.

It’s easy to say we’re living in an era where people can live to be 100 years old, but I only have 34 more years until I reach my father’s age (86), and since we’re not going to have children, I need to take my time to prepare…

It was my first New Year’s holiday that was different from the ones I’ve had in years, and I was happy, but to be honest, it made me a little anxious about the future.

But first, I’ll start by doing what I can, and since I drank quite a bit over New Year’s, I’ll take today as a drinking rest day and cut back, saving up the money instead.

“If I can overcome myself today, I’ll gain confidence for tomorrow.”

“Easier said than done.”

And while this is actually quite difficult to do, it does work when you can.

First, I’ll do my best today.

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I look forward to your continued support.

I look forward to your engagement, follows, likes, and comments are welcome.

I plan to reply to the comments.

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※TOSHI, I had been a writer who mainly focuses on food for around 5 years. I am looking for media that will publish my essays about Japan,  gourmet Mystery novel (※), etc. Feel free to contact me via ClubRosy’s X (Twitter) DM. https://twitter.com/ClubRosy

or Email toshijprose●gmail.com (change ● to @ please)

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amazon page of TOSHI’s book（竹井夙 Toshi TAKEI’s book）⇩⇩ [美しい人々　Beautiful people] etc.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%9C%AC-%E7%AB%B9%E4%BA%95-%E5%A4%99/s?rh=n%3A465392%2Cp_27%3A%E7%AB%B9%E4%BA%95+%E5%A4%99

As for our daily life, I, or “Rosie-chan,” tweet on Twitter at Club Rosie, almost everyday. so please take a look if you like. It seems that it may be possible to translate with Google.

Club Rosy Twitter
https://twitter.com/ClubRosy

【What is a Japanese cuisine that men love?】Beautiful stories from far away From Japan
https://clubrosy.jp/article/3665.html

【Japanese brides weren’t allowed to eat】Beautiful stories from far away From Japan

https://clubrosy.jp/topimg/3565.html

The articles I wrote

TABIZINE　⇩⇩
http://tabizine.jp/author/toshi/