Osechi
On New Years Day, the God of the Year, named Toshigami comes to the world and the world starts a new year. The god came through a special gate, a Kadomatsu, into our world. He is god of agriculture. In Japan when agriculture was the main activity of life, people welcomed Toshigami and hoped for a rich harvest. A special decoration, a shimekazari was put up to welcome the god. Another decoration, a wakazari, was put up to make sure that nothing would go wrong during the next year. Osechi is a meal to give to Toshigami. In Japan people gave the first part of the crop to god. The rest of the celebration was a feast, called naorai.