As delicious as it is, the traditional New Year's Eve feast of osechi ryōri is an elaborate, time-consuming affair to assemble.
According to a recent survey by the magazine Fujin Gaho, 80% of Japanese people intend to eat osechi this year, but 70% plan to purchase it rather than making it at home. Indeed, most of the numerous food items included in an osechi array use cooking methods that originated in the Edo or Meiji periods (with most coming about in the 19th century), meaning they’re not in everyday use anymore.
Osechi is changing all the time, too — 45% of the people in that survey said they were planning to have an osechi spread that included Western-style foods such as roast beef or smoked salmon in addition to traditional Japanese washoku items. In my own house, my elderly parents have smaller appetites, so we tend to skip most customary osechi items.