After taking a train to Fukuroi, I walked to the temple (you can also take a bus from the bus stop No.1 near the north exit of the station). It was still warm, and it was refreshing to walk about 40 minutes to get there. This is the General Gate of the temple, with the New Year’s decorative pine trees in front of it. At first, I thought it strange that the gate looked brand new though Kasuisai is an old temple with more than 600 years of history. In addition, I couldn’t remember seeing it before. Later, I learned that the gate was rebuilt in last autumn as it was destroyed by the strong typhoon in October 2018.
I went up the stairs as before,
and went to the reception building on the right to book Kicchozen.
It was a little over 11:00, and there weren’t many people yet. I got a ticket with number 4 and went inside. In this building, they have an annual exhibition of hina dolls (dolls displayed on the Doll Festival on March 3) on a large scale from January 1 to March 15, and I could see an extraordinary exhibit from the beginning. It consisted of life-sized dolls representing the emperor and the empress and three court ladies. They were amazing but a bit scaring.
Usually, hina dolls are much smaller so that even small children can hold them by themselves. In addition to exhibits, the temple has dolls and furniture for children to play with freely. The exhibition is gorgeous, and there will be more interesting items displayed during the period. I think I’ll come to Kasuisai again and write a separate article later.
As before, the lunch was served in a tatami room. This is the set Kicchozen with a festive tone for the New Year.
With Kicchozen, you can choose between rice gruel with adzuki beans and rice + miso soup. I chose the former because I had seldom eaten it before. It is traditionally eaten on January 15 to drive away evil spirits and pray for good health. I heard this custom is originated from China. Also in a Korean movie “Masquerade”, a similar kind of dish was served in the royal palace, which was very impressive.
The foods on this plate were beautifully arranged. Kurikinton or mashed chestnut is one of the most popular New Year’s foods, and the kumquat compote with slight bitterness is my favorite. There was something between them that resembled a slice of boiled fish paste. It turned out to be a slice of yam picked in ume vinegar! Unfortunately, I didn’t know what others were, but they were also good. I thought all the foods were elaborately prepared.
This is also a well-known dish for the New Year. It is called namasu and usually made of Japanese radish and carrot seasoned in vinegar. But this one served in Kasuisai had something extra: a slice of dried persimmon.
Cooked vegetables, ganmodoki (deep-fried tofu conatining vegetables), yam cake, etc.,
and their soft delicious sesame tofu! I was very glad to have it again this time.
Sweet black beans are also a typical food item for the New Year. They are intended to be able to work in good health. Usually, I don’t like black beans very much because they are often too sweet and I can’t feel any other taste than sweetness. But these beans in Kasuisai were good, and I thought the original taste of the beans was preserved. They were a real dish. In addition, I had never seen black beans with gold foil on them though it is sometimes used for festive foods or in higher-class restaurants. This combination of black and gold was gorgeous.
I enjoyed this special set very much. It included common Japanese dishes for the New Year, but they tasted different and special. The price is 1500 yen, which is very reasonable considering the high quality of dishes and the admission fee of the hina-doll exhibition included in the price. I’ll surely come again to have dishes of other seasons as well.
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