ホモテナシ

• Good symbols are 松 (for long life, such as 老松, 唐松),
• 曙 棗 (the red one 淡々斎 liked)
• 誰が袖棚, which is described in 裏千家茶道 6. Fujiyo mentioned that it is used in January, and it's named for the plum blossoms, harkening back to a poem 色　よりも　香　こそ　あわれ　と　思ほゆれ　誰が袖　ふれし　宿　の　梅　ぞも (Plum blossoms are beautiful, but the best part is the smell. Oh, what smell! Is it our plum blossoms or did somebody walk through our garden and their sleeve touched our plum tree and leave a good scent?)
• Fujiyo said: January, new year’s decorations…utensils for shinto ritual, kagura shinto musical dance..

Tied in circle with long willow branches 島台、手桶水 (teoke) decorated with しめ縄 sacred rice straw ropes.. relatively big kettle with happy inspiration such as its name is 万歳, or the surface is decorated with 松竹梅 patterns. Lid rest such as plum blossoms patterns or shape of 突羽根 (it's a flower petal, tsukubane, it’s shuttlecock for traditional battledore) Flashy? January

• Winter solstice is on the 21 / 23 XII, so technically, it is already spring and the days get longer. Yet, the great cold, 大寒（だいかん）, usually around the 22 I, is still ahead.
• On New Year's Day, 井華水（せいか　すい）or 若水（わか　みず）, which is water drawn between 0200 and 0400 (the time of the 虎) and is considered especially pure, is drawn.
• Then, this is used to make 大福茶（おおぶくちゃ）, which has symbolism that ties it to happiness and long life and is a mix of 煎茶（せんちゃ）, 昆布（こんぶ） and dried plum.
• If there's fresh snow, boil it in the kettle. ML told the story that the Chinese collect the snow from the pines for this, finding this particularly poetic.
• When people are invited for a 夜話（よ　ばなし）, you could greet them with as much warmth as possible, for example with 卵酒（たまご　ざけ）: whisky 1 egg yolk, 15 ml honey, 200 ml heated sake.
• Then there's 初釜, of course.

• Mittwer suggests narcissus in bronzeware

• Sen sais to use Camellia bud and ornamental wild greenery in a two-tiered bar bamboo container with a gold-on-black lacquer design tortoises and waves on the inside. This container is hung on the pillar of a tokonoma.

• Most of it is from Ulrich

• Red and white, the Seven Gods of Fortune, who live on 蓬莱（ほらい）mountain, and come with a 宝船（たからぶね）, a treasure ship.
• 寒月（かんげつ）, the cold, indifferent moon that drains warmth of all.
• 初草（はつ　くさ）is a 名物 茶入 that is completely plain brown. It reminds us of the brown grass in the melting snow, that bears the promise of rebirth. See 侘び. Miya said (I 24) it would be better to use 雪間草（雪　ま　草）.
• In the same vein, Kaoru used 早蕨（さわらび）in I 24, which is some rolled up, edible fern that represents spring.
• 雲海（うんかい）for a 茶碗, with the clouds that bring rain and thus life; and the sea that brings forth all. Because the bowl is something that carries the present of the tea, it is quite suitable.

I guess anything with 初 is fine. Miya suggested I use 初笑い, for example.

• 寿山福海（じゅ　さん　ふく　かい）
• 無事是黄人（ぶ　じ　これ　きん　にん）
• 花開萬国春（はな　ひらく　ばんこく　の　はる）

- Bashō

• 花弁餅（はなびらもち）
  • http://konny.fc2web.com/info/recipe_hanabira_e.html
  • http://www.dengonnet.net/japaneserestaurantguide/recipes/hanabira-mochi-from-kyoto/

• 主菓子 of course is 花弁餅!

• 干菓子 could be Wakamatsu (young pine) sweets. Young pine trees symbolize the hopes for the new year. For these sweets, the impression of a pine branch is stamped on soft rice crackers, which are then stacked, with miso placed between each layer. LowER LEFT: No-shimusubi (gift knot) sweets. At New Year's, gifts of money are often wrapped in strips of paper.

These sweets, similar to ribbon candy served in the West, are made of strips of sugar cake that have been dyed red and white, the traditional congratulatory colors in Japan, and tied in knots before they harden.