Traditional meals and Religious practices :

 Usually in the Americans' way of life, the traditional food to eat on New Years is Turkey or a type of game meat. But in the Japanese New Year, the  food is called osechi-ryori, and colorful osechi-ryori dishes are packed in layers of lacquer boxes, called jubako. Each dish and ingredient in osechi has meaning, such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness, long life, and so on. The kinds of osechi dishes eaten at Japanese homes vary from region to region.

It's a Japanese tradition to eat osechi-ryori throughout the New Year's holidays (until Jan. 3.) Traditionally, people finish cooking osechi dishes by New Year's Eve so that they have food for a couple days without cooking. Most of the dishes can last a couple days in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature. Nowadays, people buy ready-made osechi dishes at stores instead of cooking them at home. It can be time-consuming to cook so many kinds of dishes. You can even order a set of osechi-ryori at department stores, grocery stores, or convenience stores.

Jubako

• Osechi ryori, (New Year’s cuisine) is preserved food and is intended to last for several days.
• Osechi is richly fortified with cultural metaphor and visual symbolism