By Akemi Tamanaha, Associate Editor
(This story is made possible with the support of AARP.)
For Japanese Americans throughout the United States, Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) is a time to celebrate, reflect, clean and prepare for the year ahead. In the San Francisco Bay Area, senior living facilities and other organizations are helping Japanese American seniors carry out beloved traditions.
Celebrations have begun before January 1. Yu-Ai Kai, a senior living facility in San Jose that promotes “health aging” while “embracing Japanese American tradition,” hosted a mochi pounding
Konko Church in San Francisco will host hatsumode, the tradition of visiting a shrine or temple on New Years to pray for good fortune. Offerings and bell ringings will continue through January 3, welcoming multi-generational Japanese American families.
At Kokoro Assisted Living in San Francisco, celebrations vary depending on the senior.
Toshiko, a senior in her 80s living at Kokoro, was born in Japan before moving to the United States. She told AsAmNews that one of her favorite parts of celebrating is eating “osechi ryori,” traditional Japanese foods.
Osechi includes foods like: datemaki, a rolled omelet; kuromame, sweet black beans eaten for luck; and ozoni, a soup with mochi. The foods are associated with different New Year’s good tidings like longevity and luck.
Iris Sumiko Suda, 102, has fond memories of making osechi for her family.
“I like to cook,” Suda told AsAmNews. In addition to the traditional foods, she added that she enjoys making her famous mochi cake.
A Japanese cook, Suda said, used to prepare osechi at Kokoro so residents could celebrate with their friends and family. Sakae Hamilton, Director of Resident Care, said the cook left a few years ago, but Kokoro plans to serve some of the traditional foods.
Suda was born in Los Angeles but went to school in Japan when she was a child. She remembers Japanese school being much stricter than American schools.
This New Years, Suda will celebrate with her daughter and look forward to her 103rd birthday in February.
Yuko, another senior in her 80s living at Kokoro, spends the day celebrating something a little different: her birthday. Yuko told AsAmNews that she was actually born on Christmas Day in Japan. Her father changed her birthday when she moved to the United States.
On New Years, she marks another year of life, and sometimes gets a visit from her daughter-in-law.
“That’s how I celebrate. I’m so glad I was born,” she said.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
We are published by the non-profit Asian American Media Inc and supported by our readers along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, The Asian American Foundation & Koo and Patricia Yuen of the Yuen Foundation.
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