Okuizome – Baby's first meal at 100 days old
It is said that this custom appeared during the Heian period (794-1185) and continues to this day. This is a ritual that has taken place and been preserved for a thousand years, practiced all over Japan for homes with a newborn baby, but for some other regions it may be modified. .
Okuizome was originally called Momokaiwai (百日祝い) which means One Hundred Day Celebration. For the Japanese, the first important day is the 100th birthday, while for us in Vietnam it is a full month (1 month after birth) or the end of the cradle (1 year after birth).
In the past, in Japan's difficult times, after every baby was born, during the period before 100 days, the babies were very weak and could only use breast milk to grow, so they could get infected. either unwell or having to live in extreme circumstances, which is very easy to die.
Therefore, babies in the first weeks of life will receive more special care and attention for them. So, when a baby reaches 100 days old, he has full resistance and can eat nutritious foods to grow up healthy and happy. That's a great reason they created this Okuizome celebration.
The ceremony is usually done at home. The child wears a small kimono and the family prepares a large meal. A small table will be raised for the baby, the first meal for a baby in Japan includes food: 1 dish in the sea, 1 dish on the ground or in the mountains and 1 dish in the ground. Depending on the locality, the dish varies, but the dish in the sea must be fish, whatever fish is fine, but it must be whole with the head, Usually the dish under the sea is sea bream (Tai – 鲷).
Other foods present in a Japanese baby's first meal are Umeboshi (salted apricots, sometimes translated as salted Japanese plums) or Sekihan (red bean paste sticky rice) and Sumashijiru (a simple Japanese soup. another name is Suimono) and finally Nimono (a plate of simmered vegetables).
In particular, boys will be offered by their parents to chew on a small, round, smooth stone, either taken from a river or taken to a temple – it is the baby's first visit to a temple, with approx. one hundred days old. It is believed that the act of 'biting' the stone will help you develop healthy teeth.
After the baby's first meal in Japan is served, the parents take some food with chopsticks and press it to the baby's lips. The intention is not that the baby eat the food, because of the lack of teeth and the baby being too young this is not possible. It's just a symbolic gesture that describes this Okuizome meal.
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