Mori Neko comments

At what point are people (the government of Japan, for example) going to realize that every other thing that comes out of Trump's mouth is a LIE. The man is a proven liar ten thousand times over. Take everything he says with a grain of salt. So, this conversation he had with PM Suga, means less than nothing. He's probably already forgotten about it.

Even a 50 year old looks old to a middle schooler. I feel sorry for the boy. What a vain and arrogant old man!

Thank you so much for the insightful article. A Japanese female friend who is in an international marriage with an American told me about her Christmases, and her complaint made the above reasons seem small by comparison. Apparently, her husband insists that they spend every Christmas with his family in Chicago. No matter where they are living at the time, they fly to bitterly cold Chicago for Christmas. Understandable, most Americans would like to spend Christmas with their families, if they can. So I asked her about New Year's, did they fly back to Japan to spend Oshogatsu with her family? No, they did not. I was shocked. It's at least as important for Japanese people to spend New Year's with their family as it is for Americans to spend Christmas with theirs, if not more so. She's been married over 5 years, and not once have they spent Oshogatsu with her family. My opinion of her husband was greatly diminished after I heard that.

There is a custom that resembles a taboo against working on New Year's Day in Japan as well as China (from where the custom probably came). But these days, yes, I'm in complete agreement with the gentleman above who said osechi is made to give the womenfolk a break from the kitchen. Due to the reasons of prohibitive prices and dishes I don't like, I have made my own osechi for several years. However, it is a LOT of work, and last year I was sick and tired and I just couldn't do it. But it made me feel sad that I didn't get my osechi.