Photo/Illutration “Osechi” traditional New Year dishes are arranged in boxes at a restaurant in Kyoto on Dec. 30. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

There is no guilt associated with enjoying your tipple early in the morning during the New Year holidays, and the drink “goes straight to your eyes,” author Tatsuo Nagai (1904-1990) wrote in one of his essays.

If the day is especially sunny, “your eyes are dazzled by the sudden appearance of a ‘shishimai’ (traditional lion dance performer), preceded by cheerful sounds of pipes and drums.”

The scarlet of the lion’s head is intoxicatingly vivid, even if you are dead sober.

Gone are the days of lion dancers making their rounds and people decked out in their festive New Year’s garb. But there still are distinctive colors of the season, particularly various shades of red.

The “matsukazari” pine ornaments in green and red decorate the entrances of houses. Vermillion is the color of cups from which “otoso” spiced sake is drunk. Shops are adorned with classic red-and-white-striped drapes on their first day of business of the year.

The use of red on special occasions may have something to do with the fact that humans were once hunters and gatherers.

Back then, whether they could find ripe and nourishing red fruits was a matter of life and death. Our ancestors must have been overjoyed whenever they happened upon them.

Aside from colors, there are also tastes that scream New Year’s.

Many special dishes of the season are heavily sweetened.

While I savored those traditional concoctions, it occurred to me that the Japanese word “amai,” meaning “sweet,” is thought to be etymologically related to “umai,” which means “delicious.”

I even think sweets pair well with “sake” probably because of the season’s heady atmosphere, so to speak.

This year, I imagine many people were able to return to “normal” New Year’s celebrations with their families and relatives.

Drinking and eating together, they must have reminisced about how they missed one another during the last two years.

Fortunately, the Omicron variant seems to be behaving for the time being.

Haiku poet Seiho Awano (1899-1992) penned this piece: “Colors emerged from a house/ A child clad in New Year’s kimono.”

Seeing a young child in colorful attire come running out of a neighbor’s home, you feel happy that the neighbor’s extended family is visiting, like in any year.

I realize I haven’t experienced this sort of simple pleasure for a while.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 3

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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