Hikkoshi soba

The first meal I cooked in our new apartment: Hikkoshi soba. In this case it's tsukimi soba (moon-viewing soba), which is soba (buckwheat noodles) in hot mentsuyu (a soy sauce-based broth) topped with sliced long onions and a raw egg (the egg represents a full moon). Served with stir-fried chikuwa (fish cakes) and konyaku (devil's root jelly) and cold green tea from the convenience store down the road (we hadn't unpacked the kettle yet).

So I've described the meal, but what does hikkoshi soba mean? Well, Hikkoshi means to move, and eating soba right after moving is the done thing in Japan. The soba need not be home cooked- nearly every neighborhood has a soba restaurant that delivers and it's perfectly fine to order from one (if you can locate a shop so quickly after arriving in a new area, that is). It's also acceptable to go out to the nearest soba shop (or even to pick up some ready-made soba from the local conbini). But because soba is so simple and requires little equipment to prepare and serve, it's a good choice for a first home-cooked meal. There is no rule as to how the soba be prepared: hot or cold, toppings or no, any way is fine.

We were actually too tired and disorganized to have soba until a few days after our move, and had been surviving on take-out food and meals out. But because hikkoshi soba was the very first thing I cooked at our new place I'm pretty sure it still counts, despite its tardiness.

When I was packing (I needed to have the pots and dishes needed for hikkoshi soba easily accessible) I just assumed hikkoshi soba was an old Japanese tradition, but a little research revealed it's not quite as traditional as I thought. Or at least, I don't know enough about it to be able to truthfully describe it as an old tradition.

A few English-language sites mentioned the eating of hikkoshi soba, but none explained why it's done or when it started. A few sources also talked about a completely different kind of hikkoshi soba: dry soba noodles given as a gift to one's new neighbors as a greeting. What? I'd never heard of that, and neither had anyone I asked. Anyone who has moved in Japan knows that you eat hikkoshi soba yourself, not give it to your neighbors.

Certainly we are expected to visit new neighbors on the day of the move, or soon after, for hikkoshi no aisatsu mawari (moving in greetings). And we do have to offer a small gift. But the gift is usually something practical, like a nice set of hand towels or some soap, or edibles such as cake or cookies*. Not soba.

Then a bit of  research in Japanese revealed that people did indeed used to give soba to their new neighbors. This tradition began in Tokyo during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1867), a time when soba was immensely popular. Previously, beans had been the standard gift for new neighbors, but soba-loving Edokko (Tokyoites) started using their favourite food instead. As soba was cheaper than beans and loved by all, it soon became the standard gift and the custom spread throughout Japan.

It would seem that the long shape of the noodles, symbolizing the hope for a long friendly relationship (much like the toshikoshi soba eaten on New Years Eve), was another reason why soba became the standard moving-in gift. Or perhaps it was because of a play on words- soba (ni) also means "close by". An old greeting when meeting a new neighbor made use of this pun: Osoba ni suenagaku otsukiai wo yoroshiku, which translates as "best regards for many years of friendship by your side".

There were rules about how much soba, and to whom, to give. The standard is mukou sanken ryodonari (the houses on each side of your house and the three across the street), but modern apartment buildings make it a bit complicated and now you are expected to give to those living above and below you as well. The other old rule was to give two packages of soba to each neighbor and 5 packages each to the oyasan (landlord) and kanzainin (steward, or basically the person who introduced one to the new property- a real estate agent would be the modern equivalent). These days, most people bring gifts to new neighbors only and not to the landlord or real estate agent (perhaps people feel, justifiably, that the hefty deposits and reikin "gift money" given to landlords and agents are enough).

So now I know the origins of hikkoshi soba. But I still don't know people switched from giving soba to new neighbors to eating it themselves after moving. Perhaps people planning on moving stocked up on soba, and found it convenient to eat any leftovers when the greeting and moving was done? Or they found it convenient to order soba from a local shop for their first meal? And I really don't know when the switch occurred, but I'm inclined to think it wasn't all that long ago.

So what did we end up doing about our hikkoshi aisatsu mawari? Normally we'd greet the neighbors in the apartments on each side of us, as well as the people immediately above and below us. But that wasn't possible in our brand-new apartment. So we gave our only next-door neighbors, who also happen to be our landlords, a set of assorted senbei (rice crackers) and youkan (red bean jelly)**; then we gave a Christmas-themed tin of butter cookies to their son and his family, who live in the penthouse on the 5th floor. The rest of the building is empty save for a single guy on the 4th floor (we figured since he's 2 floors up we don't have to bother).

I'm kind of looking forward to when the rest of tenants move in. Not because I'm greedy for presents, just because I'm curious to see what they'll choose as a gift (or even if they'll give anything at all). Who knows, maybe they'll be genuine Edokko and give us two packages of soba!

* According to this site, the most common gifts are towels, handkerchiefs and the like, which are given by 38.8% of people after moving, 30.4% of people give sweets and other food, and 17.9% give detergent and other household items. What gifts are people happiest to receive from new neighbors? 58.3% prefer cash and gift certificates, a mere 11.7% and 9.9% were happy with edibles and houseplants, respectively.

** This was a traumatic meeting and deserves a post of its own, which I'll get to later.

Comments

[Carlyn]

Amy:
Great history and even more interesting gift giving protocol...Isn't it interesting how in Japan the gift giving is in reverse of those traditions in the US. We have the traditional "Welcome Wagon" for those new neighbors who move in. Gifts of food are given to the new comers not the reverse..ha ha....Wonderful to see that you're starting the cooking process once again in the new abode...

[tabehodai]

Congrats! You've officially moved and cooked your "first" meal!

I like the story you dug up. When I first moved in, I brought lots of small gifts from my country to give to the neighbours, but I didn't realise that I was moving into a block with only small apartments i.e. fits only one person. More than a year later today, I have hardly seen any of my neighbours!

Oh, speaking of devil's tongue, please share with me how you cooked it. What seasoning did you use? Konnyaku is really tasty but I have yet to attempt a dish with it.

[Jonny]

So interesting. And now I feel like a barbarian because I didn't know about any of this when I got my Tokyo place arranged.

You know, I really miss my Tokyo pad. Not so much because of the apartment itself, but because of the great efforts it took to arrange everything: the key money, the registration with the local government, the bowing, the transfer of the telephone, on and on... that is a lot to just give up after jumping through all the necessary hoops.

I guess the California equivalent for hikoshi soba is hikoshi Chinese food, eaten straight out of those too-cute takeaway boxes. Eaten on the floor, of course. I have very fond memories of doing that in quite a number of different locales. :-)

[santos.]

what a fantastic post--history, customs, and just a hint of trauma...? ;) congratulations on your new move!

[Amy]

Carlyn,
It is interesting how all the pressure is on the new neighbor, and during such a busy time. I guess the idea is that moving causes inconvenience to the neighbors, so it's up to the person moving to make the first move.

Tabehodai,
Many younger single people don't care about the old customs and want nothing to do with their neighbors. Such a shame you had to waste all those gifts on them.

Jonny,
I know exactly how you feel. After all the effort (and money) it took to get here, I want to stay here for ever.
I'm in awe that you did all that yourself. And at a time when landlords and real estate agents discriminated freely against foreigners. Before I got married I stayed lived in Gaijin Houses or company-arranged housing only- the thought of renting my own apartment was too daunting.
Chinese takeout would have been nice. In Canada we just order a pizza (while sending someone out for a beer run, of course).

Santos,
Thanks! We're over the trauma and everything is fine, but I'll post about it soon.

[Amy]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Tabehodai, here's your recipe. I copied it from a group I belong to; the recipe was kindly supplied by a fellow foreign lady who runs a sushi shop with her husband.
The recipe doesn't mention it, but I like to boil my konyaku for a few minutes first- it firms it up and removes some of that konyaku stink.

"Chikuwa and Konyaku Itame

Ingredients
Four small chikuwa or two large sliced diagonally in about 1/4 inch slices
One block of konyaku
Three tbls. soy sauce
Three tbls. sake
Three tbls. sugar
Shichi mi (seven spice chili powder)
Sesame oil

Score the konyaku on both sides, rub with a bit of salt and rinse well,
drain. Cut into bite sized chunks. Heat about two to three tbls. of salad oil in
a fry pan, and add the konyaku, brown slightly on all sides, and chikuwa and
brown slightly, add soy sauce, sake and sugar, and cook over a medium flame
until the liquid is almost all gone. Sprinkle liberally with shichi mi and add a
touch of sesame oil. That's it.
For four servings, it costs about a hundred yen, takes about five minutes
to make, and makes a good addition to bento."

[tabehodai]

Thank you so much for the recipe!

I've had just simple konnyaku with sliced chillies at an izakaya but I had no idea how they could make it so tasty. I'm gonna try it soon!

By the way, I kinda fried natto n kimchi in rice the other night n it was really tasty. Actually I did it the lazy way. so I did everything in the rice cooker. Basically cook rice with a clove of lightly fried n fragrant crushed garlic (I just crushed the garlic, added a little oil, pop it into the microwave on high for a min) as per normal, then just before all the water dries up in the rice cooker, add kimchi, natto and some minced pork (lightly marinated with soy sauce n pepper if u like), cover the rice cooker and let the rice continue to cook completely. When the rice is done, mix everything well and let it stand in the rice cooker a little while. The "fried" rice was great and fuss free to make. I guess if I had cooked the rice and then separately fried it with the other ingredients in the pan, then everything will be crispier?

[drh]

Congratulations on the move! A few years ago when I moved I tried to take a little present to my neighbors and they wouldn't open their door for me...I had to do my aisatsu through a closed door! That was quite traumatic.

Good luck with the unpacking/settling in.

P.S. I have the same blue and white bowl (the one on the left in your photo). :-)

[Amy]

That rice sounds great, Tabehodai! I'm love recipes that are tasty, healthy and above all EASY, so I'll give this a try soon.

DrH, That's awful. Did your neighbors ever warm up to you?
I once had a complete set of these dishes, but I've pretty much broken them all...