The new year coming event this time is a little different from usual due to mourning period.
(Some may know my mother was dead on August, 2015)
I didn't do anything special, even not writing new year cards, but have just worked on cleaning my house, especially the fan at kitchen, waxing on the floor, sweeping the bed side.
It is one of traditions in Japan for whoever is welcoming a new year to take noodles at the last day of December.
Ramen noodle at lunch, the upper picture, Soba noodle with tempura (fried shrimp and fried vegetables) at night, the bottom one
The New Year 2016, we visited my sister-in-low's home and had lunch with my wife's mother and my three sons. It is not so often to get together with three sons due to their jobs and things to do, but this year, fortunately they were all available.
In the pictures below, crab is not common food as a new year dish but red snapper is common.
There is some old saying that red snapper is a special fish for some celebrations.
Phonetically, red snapper is called "Tai" in Japanese, and delighted or blissful means "Mede-Tai", so that "Tai" inspires "Mede-Tai" and refers to "delighted" or "blissful".
