Japanese American New Year’s food traditions transcend time

By Khushbu Shah, The New York Times

Jane Matsumoto’s family is so eager to eat their annual ozoni that they gather around the table at 2 in the morning, right after they’ve cleaned the confetti, streamers and Champagne glasses from their New Year’s Eve festivities. Matsumoto, who is sansei, or third-generation Japanese American, and the executive culinary director of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, looks forward to the brothy soup bobbing with mochi pieces every year.

Ozoni is standard New Year’s Day fare for many Japanese Americans, whether they are nisei, the children of Japanese immigrants, or hansei, fourth-generation Japanese Americans. Starting in the 1880s, the first major wave of Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States, and although many New Year’s Day tables have evolved to include dishes from other cultures, customary Japanese dishes remain.

As a child, chef Charles Namba patientl...