An auspicious Japanese food symbolizing “clear prospect”

Have you ever eaten “Chikuwa” ？

Chikuwa is a distinctive food that is probably only eaten in Japan. To elaborate further, Chikuwa is made by grinding white fish like pollock into a smooth paste, wrapping it around a bamboo or metal stick, then grilling or steaming it. Once cooked, it's removed from the stick, giving it its signature hollow shape. It’s shaped like a stick with a hole in the middle. It’s white, and the outside is browned with flame.

Therefore, Chikuwa, a food with a central hole, is considered an auspicious food symbolizing “clear prospect”.

By the way, to add a bit, "chiku" of "chikuwa" means a bamboo and "wa" means a circle in Japanese, respectively. Chikuwa is delicious when eaten as is, but it can be used in a variety of dishes.

Now, I'll show the auspicious ritual tossing "chikuwa" held at the specific shrine of Japan.

Late on New Year's Eve, I visited the local Shinto shrine located in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. 

The view of the worship hall of this Shrine in the morning on the New Year's Day.

In the worship hall, a big ice sculpture of the 2026 zodiac animal, the horse, was being carved by the craftsmen and it was finished about an hour before midnight.  

 The cycle of the 12 animals (the 12 zodiac signs)

Listening to the witty banter of a local rakugo storyteller, we waited for the New Year countdown.

When it hits midnight, the shrine maidens began the traditional “chikuwa toss” ritual. 

When she tosses the small bags of chikuwa (yellow arrow), everyone scrambles to grab them. In some bags, the winning tickets are enveloped. A total of two thousand chikuwa are tossed by four shrine maidens and other shrine staffs at two events, one beginning at midnight and the other at 12:30 a.m.　　

Though a light rain fell at times, an enormous crowd gathered around the worship hall at midnight to get Chikuwa. I saw some children get several. 

After “chikuwa toss”, a New Year's koto performance began on the adjacent Noh stage.