What the Japanese eat on the winter solstice

The Japanese eat pumpkin on the winter solstice.

There is a saying in Japan that eating food with ん in its name on the winter solstice will bring good luck. If you have 2 んs in your name, it's an excellent sign of luck.

In Japan, there are seven common ingredients with good omen, namely pumpkin (なんきん), lotus root (れんこん), carrots (にんじん), ginkgo nuts (ぎんなん), kumquats (きんかん), kanten (かんてん) and udon (udon), which makes the winter solstice a seven-price dish. The saying goes.

Among the seven treasures of the winter solstice, pumpkin is the first. In ancient Japan, when winter came and it was too cold to grow and store fresh vegetables, pumpkins, which are rich in nutrients and easy to store, became one of the preferred winter foods, and the custom of eating pumpkins at the winter solstice slowly became fixed.

Other Japanese winter solstice customs

The Japanese traditionally take a "yuzu bath" on the winter solstice after they have eaten their fill. The Japanese tradition of taking a yuzu bath can be traced back to the Edo period. In 1838, Saito Tsukisham's "Chronicles of the Eastern Capital" recorded the story of people going to public **** bathhouses to take a yuzu bath on the winter solstice.

Because yuji (とうじ), which is a warm soup to maintain the body, is pronounced the same way as winter solstice, and yuzu (ゆず) has the same sound as ryutong (smoothness, fluency), the Japanese believe that taking a yuzu bath on the day of the winter solstice can get rid of bad luck and make everything go smoothly.

This is winter, is the season of yuzu ripe, Japan produced yuzu size and golf ball, the color is slightly more than lemon yellow, fruit sour, so do not eat meat, but specifically the skin and juice as a spice, throw a few into the bath, so that it floats on the water surface, in a short time will be able to give off the fragrance of the aroma to.

That's why many families buy pomelo for their entire family to bathe in on this day, and almost all public **** bathhouses offer special pomelo baths.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Yuzu Onsen