Tōji (Winter Solstice)

A plethora of pumpkin: (clockwise from upper-left) black chestnut, butternut, colinky, suzuki, puccini, and chrysanthemum kabocha (left); boiled kabocha with dashi broth. (© Pixta)

Cyclamen. (© Pixta)

Japanese Christmas cake and roasted chicken. (© Pixta)

Kadomatsu (left) and shimekazari. (© Pixta)

Kagami mochi decorated with a daidai bitter orange, urajiro fern, and shide (zigzag-shaped paper). (© Pixta)

A monk rings the temple bell for New Year’s Eve (left); toshikoshi soba with tempura shrimp. (© Pixta)

First sunrise at Mount Fuji. (© Pixta)

Boxed osechi ryōri, a decanter of otoso (New Year’s spiced sake), and sake cups. (© Pixta)

Zōni containing kakumochi (rice cake blocks) (left); round mochi filled with red bean paste are often added in Kagawa and Kumamoto Prefectures. (© Pixta)

Money envelopes for New Year’s otoshidama. (© Pixta)

Hatsumōde. (© Pixta)