It's official: the Gregorian calendar New Year has come and gone. Actually, so has the Japanese New Year celebration in most Japanese cities--Oshogatsu generally runs from December 31 to January 4. Eh, minor details.
The Morikami Museum and Gardens is fashionably late, holding its 35th annual Oshogatsu New Year's Celebration
this Sunday, January 13.
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The event, which is the museum and garden's unique take on the national celebration will feature lectures and classes on Oshogatsu, New Year's storytelling, a do-it-yourself Daruma wall, calligraphy demonstrations, Shishimai to Fushu Daiku (those big multi-person lion dances to the sound of Japanese drums), and more. However, we're more interested in the activities that can be consumed.
The museum is bringing in a number of vendors to serve traditional Japanese and American festival food. Expect to see spring rolls, ramen and soba noodles, yakitori, stir-fries, as well as the good ol' American hot dogs and hamburgers. The museum's own Cornell Cafe--located off the festival grounds--will be offering a wide range of Pan-Asian cuisine too.
For the drinkers: a Kirin beer garden will be available in addition to a sake station. Sake experts will be on-hand to offer guests samplers and to conduct sake 101 courses for those looking to learn about the different variations in the beverage. The presentations will be held on the Daruma stage at 12:20 and 3:00pm.
At 12:30 and 2:30pm, the traditional Japanese tea ceremony--sado--will be offered at the Yamato-kan. Normally, those demonstrations will cost you 5 bucks.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children at the gate. However, they can be pre-purchased on the Morikami website here, for $12 and $6 respectively.
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