(by Sachiko Liou, Principal)

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. In Japan, New Year’s is a time for family. Everyone dresses up and goes to the shrine to pray for health and prosperity in the New Year. To prepare for this day, families prepare their New Year’s feasts several days before New Year’s, making special foods for the holiday. These foods include such items as rice cakes, vegetables, seaweed, fish, eggs, and beans. Each food has special meaning that indicates a wish for health and prosperity for the family. On the morning of New Year’s Day there is custom of drinking spiced sake and eating rice cakes in a chicken and vegetable soup called Ozouni. In the United States there are few Japanese Americans who prepare these traditional Japanese food for the New Year. However, many Japanese Americans eat rice cakes and combine American traditions with Japanese traditions. America, China, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and other wonderful countries represented by our student body all have different and interesting New Year’s customs. What are your family’s traditions? I hope all of you had a good break. Let’s work together to make the second half of the school year productive and enjoyable.