By Ines Keane
Open the lid and you see the lid of the next box. That is the first thing to know about a jubako: it is built to be stacked, and the food inside is arranged to be read from the top down. Four sources explain the arrangement, and they do not quite agree on the details.
What the words mean
Wikipedia says osechi-ryori are traditional Japanese New Year foods, recognised by their special boxes, the jubako, which resemble bento boxes. Like bento boxes, it says, jubako are often kept stacked before and after use. It adds that not every part of Japan keeps the custom, naming Suzu in Ishikawa as one place that does not. Its separate article on the box says jubako are traditionally made of wood, generally lacquered, in sets of two, three or more layers, usually with a lid on the top one. They are often square but come in other shapes, and are used for osechi, for takeaway lunches and for bento.
How the food got into the box
Wikipedia gives a history in stages. Osechi began as rice served high in bowls at court ceremonies, it says, and changed under the influence of a ritual banquet cuisine of the samurai class in the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573). In the Edo period (1603 to 1868) the word came to mean New Year dishes only, and townspeople took up the custom. From the late Edo period, some dishes began to be packed in jubako. From the Meiji era (1868 to 1912) to the Showa era, the variety increased and the boxes became a luxury product sold in department stores. A retailer’s blog says the box dates to the Heian period, when aristocrats used stacked boxes to carry food to banquets. That is a different claim from Wikipedia’s, and we put them side by side without choosing.
Why stack it
A retailer’s blog on osechi says the name of the box is tied to the Japanese word for stacking, and expresses a wish that happiness and prosperity “stack up in layers and continue”. It also says the boxes keep food fresh, so families can avoid cooking in the first three days of the New Year. The Japanese Food Guide, a food site, makes a similar point: the dishes are generally sweet, sour or dried, so they keep without refrigeration, and are eaten cold over the first three days of the year.
What the dishes mean
The Japanese Food Guide gives a short list of meanings, all of them wordplay or appearance. Sweetened black soybeans, kuromame, stand for health and the ability to work hard. Herring roe, kazunoko, stands for fertility: kazu means number and ko means child. Candied sardines, tazukuri, stand for a good harvest, because sardines were once used to fertilise rice fields. The rolled omelette, datemaki, looks like a scroll and stands for learning. Chestnut and sweet potato, kurikinton, is golden and stands for wealth. The red and white fish cake, kohaku kamaboko, is linked with celebration, and its half-moon shape is said to be the first sunrise of the year. Wikipedia adds that kazunoko symbolises a wish for numerous children. These are the sources’ readings of the foods, and we repeat them as readings.
The tiers, according to two blogs
Here the sources part. A language-school blog gives four tiers plus a fifth. The first holds celebratory appetisers and sweet dishes, including the black soybeans, herring roe, candied sardines and rolled omelette. The second holds grilled seafood, such as prawn and sea bream. The third holds vinegared dishes. The fourth holds stewed vegetables. The fifth, it says, is usually left empty. The retailer’s blog puts it differently: first tier, appetisers and sweets; second tier, grilled and simmered dishes, including the fish cake and omelette; third tier, simmered vegetables and vinegared dishes; fourth tier, varying by region and household.
The two blogs agree that the fourth tier is called yo-no-ju, not shi-no-ju, because the number four can be read like the word for death, and shi is avoided. The retailer’s blog says three or four tiers are usual today. The language-school blog calls five the basic form and says many families now prepare three or fewer because the quantity is large.
Regions
Wikipedia says that in the Kanto region, black soybeans, herring roe and tazukuri were the three standard items, while in Kansai black soybeans, tazukuri and tataki gobo were. It also says regional styles were gradually standardised after the Meiji period, when women’s schools taught osechi.
Dates in order
- 1336 to 1573: banquet cuisine shapes osechi, according to Wikipedia.
- 1603 to 1868: osechi comes to mean New Year dishes; late in the period, dishes are packed in jubako, according to Wikipedia.
- 1868 to 1912: variety grows in the box, according to Wikipedia.
- Showa era: department stores sell boxed osechi, according to Wikipedia.
- Heian period: aristocrats carry food in stacked boxes, according to the retailer’s blog.
Side by side
The sources agree on the box being stacked and lacquered, on the three-day cold meal, and on the avoided fourth tier. They differ on the box’s origin, on the contents of the second and third tiers, and on whether five tiers is the full form. Our reading: the tier rules are habits that families adapted, so any list of “what goes in which tier” is a snapshot, not a standard.
What kind of sources these are
Two Wikipedia articles, which anyone can edit; a food site; a language-school blog; and a retailer’s blog, which is promotional. We read no lacquerware maker’s page, no museum and no government source, and we name no maker or shop.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is the box wood or plastic? The retailer’s blog says today’s boxes also come in plastic and ceramic, so it is worth asking. How many tiers, and does the set include a lid? Is the finish lacquer, and is it food-safe? We make no claim about any particular box, and we give no prices.
What we left out
We left out the religious ritual that Wikipedia and one blog link to the custom, because it is a matter of belief and not of the craft. We left out the origin sentences that name another country, and two blog dates that did not fit the period names. We left out recipes, brand names and prices.
Quick answers
What is osechi? According to Wikipedia, osechi-ryori are traditional Japanese New Year foods, recognised by the stacked boxes called jubako, which resemble bento boxes.
Why is osechi eaten cold? A food site says the dishes are generally sweet, sour or dried, so they keep without refrigeration, and are eaten over the first three days of the year.
What is a jubako made of? According to Wikipedia, jubako are traditionally wood, generally lacquered, stacked in two, three or more layers, often square. A retailer’s blog adds plastic and ceramic.
Related on this site: otaru-canal-glass-snow-light-path, tenugui-unhemmed-cotton-cloth-chusen, kendama-origin-dates-hatsukaichi
Roam first. Shop later.