Handmade Japanese new year decoration 手作り鏡餅

 These are called Kagami Mochi examples of Japanese new year decorations made from rice cake.  Now it is common to decorate for Christmas in Japan but these are more important for Japanese to welcome new year.  There are Dos and Don'ts on new year customs. It is said do not work on New year day and finish all house work by the end of year.  Therefore, we made rice cake and made these decorations on 31 December.   These days, people become busy and we can buy these things at the supermarkets, though since we are in Sri Lanka and we have no chance to buy them, we can make them by traditional ways. 
We decorate these rice cake for 10 days and eat them after decorating.  These become hard after 10 days so that the foreign guests were surprised when I explained we would eat after 10days decorating.  One of Don'ts is not cut it with a knife to prevent from breaking holy power which has been decorated as offerings.  We have to make small pieces by hands and hammers.  We may serve Mochi (Rice cake) desserts to share happiness with people after 10th January as we do every year.

元旦から４日までは、レストランを休業しておりましたが、年末にお餅をついて、元旦から鏡餅を飾っています。昨年までは、市販の物を購入していましたが、今年は何となく。。（笑）今年は、素敵に飾りつけもできました。５日からお店を開けましたが、その日、お餅をお召し上がりになられた方は、ラッキー！つきたてのお餅でした。やっぱり、つきたては美味しいですね。この鏡餅も私たちにとっては、たわいのないものかもしれませんが、外国人のお客様は興味津々！つたない説明をしますが、新年の祝いものだと言うことはわかって頂けたようです。この硬くなった餅を改めて食べるんですよと、話すと、だいたいの方が、驚かれます。こんな硬くなったものも食べれるんだと！私は、日本の食べ物を大事にする習慣が大好きです。