Happy New Year from Dai-ichi Takimotokan in Noboribetsu Onsen! We hope everyone is enjoying the start of 2020. We are so grateful for the visitors we had here in Hokkaido, and we hope everyone will join us once again this year.

Our tradition at Dai-ichi Takimotokan is Otoso, a slightly spiced medicinal sake traditionally served on New Year’s Day. Otoso is meant to wash away the illness and difficulty of the previous year and fortify the body for a fresh start and a long life. In honor of this tradition and the turning of the year, our staff wear formal kimono and give out lucky charms for the New Year.

A lion dance, performed by Kamon Eishin, was also performed in the lobby. It is well-known that having a lion bite your head helps protect you from disease and disaster during the coming year. This year, many of our visitors took part in this delightful tradition.

In Sengen Park, just opposite Dai-ichi Takimotokan, Kodakara Mochi-Tsuki mai (rice cake pounding dance to celebrate a newborn baby ) was performed. It tells the story of a married couple blessed with children when they enter a hot spring. As the story goes, the delicious mochi or rice cakes produced at the end represent the treasure or newborn baby.

There will also be a Children’s Festival in our hotel and of course, no celebration at Dai-ichi Takimotokan would be complete without a performance by our Hokkai Ideyu Daiko, our taiko drum group. We look forward to sharing all of this and more with you in the coming year!