In Japan, the 1st of January is a quiet time to rise early and be with the family. Like Christmas morning in the US, but without all of the gift-giving and other fanfare, it’s the one time of year when all of the kids are back home, perhaps with kids of their own in tow, and everyone spends the day lolling around in the warmest room of the house, sipping can beer and eating o-sechi ryori.
Things around the Ogata household we’re no different today. We awoke late after the previous evenings debauchery, amazingly not hungover, and joined the folks downstairs, slipping under the warmth of the kotatsu and settling in for the traditional feast.
Rie’s mother had spent many hours preparing the various dishes laid out before us on the low table, and we would enjoy them over the next 2-3 days. Everything was delicious except for the crab, which was… not delicious. It was also nice to bite into a chilled, dark beer first thing in the morning, which is one of those things I can only bring myself to do on days like today, unless “today” is actually yesterday and you’re still out somewhere and… well, never mind.
Anyway, we spent the whole day laying around, watching 笑い番組 on television and generally being lazy. In the Ogata home the TV is kept on and at high volume throughout the day, leaving me with two options: stay in the only warm room in the house and watch TV, and escape to a cold room and read a book. The frigid weather played a heavy role in my decision-making, and let’s just say I’m now fully up-to-date on current events in the 芸能界 and Japanese advertising industry.
Whaddya gonna do. I guess the only I can say is: Welcome to the Year of the Rooster!