Dear guests, dear friends!
Just a few days and it will be Christmas. What colour do you associate it with? For me it is red, because it is the symbol of life. Life in love. Red represents our wish to be happy and loved. And if people are happy, the gods are happy – that’s how they think of it in Japan, because that’s exactly what a Japanese saying goes: Hito yorokobeba, kami yorokobu. In Japan, for good measure, they pair the red with the white, so that the sacred white will protect the strong red from the potential pitfalls of evil. The white along with the red is to remind people that vitality, abundance and happiness should be untainted and holy, and that one can always start again fresh, sins forbidden.
If I change the word hito (people) from “Hito yorokobeba, kami yorokobu” to okyakusan (guests), then it is you – our Miyabi guests, to whom we want to add joy. If you are happy, we are happy too, and with this wish we want to experience the Christmas holidays with you and move into the new year 2025. I wish you a merry red and white Christmas! Happy red and white New Year! Aka-shiro.
You’ve probably already tasted the Miyabi Christmas December Obento and if you haven’t, there are still a few days left when we prepare this obento. Then with the end of the year comes Osechi. Yes, as we have done for several years in a row, we are coming with our collection of New Year’s Osechi dishes. The collection has 15 components – there’s maguro kombumaki, hamachi yakizakana, aburabozu kakuni, tarako tsukudani, tatsukuri, kamo, datemaki … with eight more to go until the fifteen. Even in Japan, people often buy their New Year’s collections ready-made, and believe me, just for these Osechi collections alone, it’s worth going to Japan before the end of the year and browsing the vast food platforms of the most luxurious department stores like Takashimaya. We were at Takashimaya near Tokyo Central Station last December 31st in the biggest shopping mania. We didn’t end up buying a ready-made collection because the prices were too high, but we got a lot of Osechi goodies and had enough to last for the whole week. That’s how it is in Japan – the New Year holidays last until January 7 and people get together and feast. I think our osechi will give you a little of that beautiful Japanese New Year atmosphere and make you happy. It can be fine for one person, but it’s enough for two either. Osechi will make you happy! Now, you need to order our collection and pay the deposit in advance HERE, no later than December 29. You can choose one of two pickup dates, December 31, 2024 after 3 pm or January 1, 2025 after 3 pm.
This year we are open on January 1 and 2, when we will still have fresh fish available. The fishermen and suppliers are also celebrating their holidays, so we won’t have new stock until January 6, and so we will be able to reopen right after that. January 7 will be also the first day you can order Winter Kaiseki. This festive special menu will again be created in very elegant form, and we hope we will make you happy with this dish as well.
“Hito yorokobeba, kami yorokobu.” Yes, we will do our best to make you happy to come to Miyabi, so that you will always get good food that will benefit your health and make you feel welcome as dear friends. Youkoso Yuujin. Remember from the last letter? ようこそ友人! Welcome friends!
All the best and may your every day be a day of joy, contentment and fulfillment. Nichi Nichi kore Kounichi.
Wishing you a blessed aka-shiro Christmas and a blessed aka-shiro New Year!
Your Miyabi Darja
