The Chance to Experience Osechi Ryori--Japan's Rare and Sensational New Year Cuisine

With 2013 right around the corner, what plans are resolutions are you making for the New Year? Living in San Francisco, we're guaranteed to have had access to amazing culinary experiences from the world's greatest chefs that are represented in this city--and following in suit, this is also the city where one gets the rare opportunity to lavish in an authentic and luxurious culinary experience in the first month of a new year.

There is a traditional preparation and presentation of Japanese food for the New Year that even many Japanese Americans don't know about. "Osechi Ryori," an elaborate array of dishes that each carry special symbolism, and is rarely experienced in the U.S. because of the elaborate skill and time needed to authentically serve the large selection of food.

Sample Osechi Ryori Presentation

In San Francisco, however, for the past several years however, the San Francisco Japantown Foundation has presented osechi ryori as the centerpiece of its annual New Year's celebration fundraiser. This year's event, on Jan. 17, 2013, will be hosted at the large-scale West Bay Conference Center, and will include an impressive osechi ryori layout provided by the prestigious Japanese restaurants and establishments like Sushi Ran, Sanraku, Delica, Tokyo Fish, Yamasho, Suruki, Mira and Nippon Ya. The sake is being sponsored by True Sake and Takara Sake, and the beer will flow freely, sponsored by Sapporo.

Osechi ryori is a traditional style of cooking based on ancient methods of preserving food, such as curing in salt or vinegar, or simmering in sweetened soy sauce and sake.

In osechi ryori, grilled fish such as tai (sea bream) and buri are exquisitely presented in addition to preserved vegetables. All are prepared to be eaten at room temperature, and can be kept for several days without refrigeration. These morsels are tightly packed into exquisite lacquer boxes called jubako. In the original and classic fashion of small plates, osechi ryori offers tastings of a large variety of dishes--each with its own meaning and a definitive hold on every aspect of the flavor profile.

Care is taken to include lucky colors, such as brightly colored pink and white kamaboko (fish cakes) and kohaku namasu (red and white salad), as well foods with symbolic meaning such as kazunoko (herring roe, literally meaning “many children”), renkon, (lotus root; a Buddhist symbol) and sweet kuromame (black beans, again, for fertility), tai (sea bream, the last syllable of the word for celebratory: omedeTAI.

Each dish and ingredient in osechi is included to carry meaning and symbolism, such as good health, good harvest, happiness, prosperity, long life, and so on. It's said that yellow colored dishes and ingredients such as kazunoko (herring roe) symbolize prosperity and that various beans (mame) imply a wish for good health. Also, red/pink and white colored food, such as pink and white kamaboko (fish cake) slices represent celebration colors.

Join in this rare dining experience by attending the San Francisco Japantown Foundation's New Year's Celebration event on Jan. 17. Click here to purchase tickets and or download the Event Brochure for more information about the event and impressive lineup of 2013 sponsors.

We look forward to sharing San Francisco's most unique and spectacular dining experience with you in 2013.

The Japantown Foundation Invites You to Celebrate the New Year with Osechi Ryori

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation's annual New Year's fundraiser again offers guests a rare opportunity to experience the traditional Japanese New Year’s cuisine called "osechi ryori" - an elaborate preparation of dishes that each have a special meaning for the New Year.

We're hosting the event on Thursday, January 17, 2013, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore Street, San Francisco.

This year's osechi will include food provided by Sushi Ran, Sanraku, Delica, and others. Sake tasting will be provided by True Sake. Performances include Shishimai by SF Taiko Dojo and Mochitsuki by Kagami Kai.

The Honorable Edwin Lee (photo right), Mayor of San Francisco, and the Honorable Hiroshi Inomata (photo left), Consul-General of Japan in San Francisco, serve as our honorary co-chairs of the event.

Event sponsors include Minami Tamaki LLP, Union Bank, Morgan Lewis and Joan Haratani, Mary Ishisaki, Ninomiya-Koda Foundation, along with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, Kintetsu Enterprises Co. of America, Hatsuro and Amey Aizawa, Kimochi, Inc., Paul Dion and Ann Tamaki, Nihonmachi Little Friends, and Kiroku Kato.

Proceeds from the event will allow the Japantown Foundation to further its mission to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. We are dedicated to preserving and honoring Japantown's history, to welcoming and serving its residents, visitors, businesses, congregations and community organizations, and to supporting the growth and development of the community's Japanese cultural theme.

The event is organized by the San Francisco Japantown Foundation Board of Directors: Donald K. Tamaki (President), Hats Aizawa, Bob Hamaguchi, Richard Hashimoto, Mary Ishisaki, Keith Kamisugi, Diane Matsuda, Sandy Mori, Jon Osaki, Allen Okamoto, Jerry Ono and June-Ko Nakagawa.

Tickets are $175. RSVP by Jan. 4, 2013. Purchase tickets online or by contacting event manager Grace Keh at grace@japantownfoundation.org or 415-534-5010. Sponsorships are also available.

Matching Grants 2012 Program Participants

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation board of directors approved the following projects to participate in our 2012 matching grants program, listed with the maximum amount of matching funds:

• Children's Day Activities ($4,000.00), a project of JCCCNC

• Japantown Youth Leaders ($2,000), a project of the Japanese Community Youth Council

• J-POP Summit Festival ($2,500.00)

• Michiya Hanayagi Dance Studio ($1,000)

• Nihonmachi Street Fair ($2,500.00)

• Nikkei Community Internship ($3,000), a project of the California Japanese American Leadership Council

• Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival ($5,000)

• Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival ($1,000), a project of the Nichi Bei Foundation

• O-Hanami Grove ($500), a project of the Parent Teacher Community Council, Japanese Bilingual Program

• San Francisco Japantown Educational Heritage Program ($5,000), a project of the National Japanese American Historical Society

We are also extending the timeframe for receiving donations that qualify for a match. Tuesday, August 7, July 31, 2012, 5 p.m. Pacific Time, is the new deadline for us to receive donations via the matching grants program.

The deadline for the Foundation to tally donations and notify matching grants program participants of final totals and grant awards is now still August 15, 2012. The original deadline was July 31. We will notify participants of the final donation totals by the end of August.

San Francisco Japantown Foundation Accepting Applications for 2012 Matching Grants Program

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation’s 2012 matching grants program will provide grants of up to $20,000 to qualified not-for-profit projects. These grants are made possible by individual donors to the Foundation and through a dollar-for-dollar match by the Foundation.

An organization, group, or individual must first qualify for the matching grants program by submitting a not-for-profit project or program for the Foundation’s consideration. Applications are due by May 15, 2012, 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Visit http://japantownfoundation.org for more information and to apply online.

In order to qualify for the matching grants program, projects need to meet one or more of the following criteria: (a) promotes Japantown by increasing tourists and others to visit the area;(b) promotes business and branding for the Japantown area; (c) promotes civic engagement in the Japanese American community and between other communities in the region; and/or (d) enhances Japantown’s characteristics through beautification or historical preservation, provided that the project or program that has already secured all requisite government and community approvals.

“This matching grants program, our fourth round of grantmaking since our founding, reflects our ongoing commitment to support organizations, groups and individuals working to advance the Japantown and Japanese American communities,” said foundation board president Donald K. Tamaki, a partner with the Minami Tamaki LLP law firm.

After the May 15 application deadline, the Japantown Foundation will announce the matching grant program participants on May 31 and accept donations for the matching grants in June and July. Final grants will be announced in August.

The foundation will conduct a phone briefing for prospective applicants on Monday, April 30, at 4:30 Pacific Time. Register online for the briefing by Friday, April 27, at http://japantownfoundation.org/grants/briefing.

The Japantown Foundation was formed in December 2006 through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank and Minami Tamaki LLP. The Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. The Foundation has provided nearly $75,000 in grants through its grants programs since 2007.

We welcome re-postings of this announcement. Download a Word file.

Japantown Foundation to Provide Matching Grants in 2012

The Japantown Foundation will be again be offering a matching grants program this year. We will announce details of our 2012 matching grants program in mid-April. If you would like to receive this grants program announcement, please provide us your information via this form and we will email you the details as soon as it's available.

UPDATE APR. 18: Our matching grants program information is now available.