Year-End Soba to End the Year and Welcome a New Year

Eating a bowl of toshikoshi soba (年越しそば） with the family to accompany the joya-no-kane, or striking of the temple bells a total of 108 times (to ring away evils of the old year) at midnight on New Year's Eve (大晦日) can be observed in Japan.

Soba (buckwheat noodles) is one of the most favorite food in Japan. The long, thin brownish noodles are made from a mixture of sobako (buckwheat flour) and wheat flour. The ratio of the mixture varies depending on the shop or region, mostly 8:2 or 10. There are two ways of eating soba, hot in broth, or cold in dipped soy-based sauce on a bamboo plate called zaru-soba which you can serve it plain or with variety of toppings, like deep-fried shrimps.

 

Eating toshikoshi soba on the 31 December has been popular in Japan since the mid-18^th century or the mid-Edo era. In those days, it is said that eating soba noodles right before New Year symbolize cutting off of bad luck and debts in that the year because it can be easily cut by chopsticks. It also symbolizes longevity and a sustained prosperity for the family since the noodles are long and thin. As buckwheat is a hardy crop, it can survive in cold climates and recover quickly with just little sunlight from wind and rain damages, soba noodles also signify resilience and strength.

There is also another an interesting story that is made popular in the Edo era. It is said that goldsmithsat that time used sobako dumplings to pick up stray pieces of gold dust that had gathered on the tatami mat on the last day of the year. So eating the year-end soba is also associated with wealth accumulation and good fortune.
 

Last but not least, research has found that soba is good for cleansing the blood and lowering blood pressure. So, for a health-conscious Japanese society, eating toshikoshi soba seems to also help to clean the body from the inside to look forward to the coming New Year.