2018 is the Year of the Dog! Lovely Zodiac Goods

Hello, this is Payke writer, LINA!
In Japan, there’s an idea called “eto” (“zodiac”). It’s used to represent things like the calendar, time, and orientation in kanji, however “eto” is mainly used to represent the calendar. There are 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, wild boar) and they’re generally used sequentially as symbols of each year. 2017 was the year of the rooster, so 2018 will be the year of the dog.

Zodiac Decorations

These are my zodiac decorations. Every year, during the New Year holidays, I place it near my entrance. The 12 animals are lined up in order. Since 2018 is the year of the dog, the zodiac dog is sitting in the center. I treasure this decoration because I can conveniently change the order of the them every year.

This is a decoration of a mythical creature called komainu (lion-dog), which comes from the combination of a shishi (lion) and a dog. There are many cases where these komainus (seen as stone guardians) are placed in Japanese temples and shrines. They’re very cute, aren’t they♪

To accompany the New Year! Year of the Dog Goods

During the year-end and New Year holiday season, zodiac goods are sold at supermarkets and general goods stores.

These are the items I purchased last year!
There is a komainu-printed dorayaki (a type of Japanese sweets that has castella-like sponge cake with red bean paste inside), chocolate balls inside wrappers with dogs printed on them, and a “New Year’s Greetings” ume-kombucha (Japanese pickled plum and kombu seaweed tea). You’ll be able to experience the New Year deliciously with this♪The “New Year’s Greetings” on the very right is meant to be given as a new year greeting to someone you are indebted to. It’s an old tradition and not many young people do this, but my grandmother hands them out every year♪
The contents of these New Year’s Greetings can differ, but in this one, there is a fortune slip (which tells you your fortune for the year; it’s a popular way to test one’s luck at the beginning of the year) and packs of ume-kombucha inside.


Ume-kombucha is tea made from kombu stock with some nicely added aroma of ume. It would be nice to receive a little present like this to accompany your New Year’s, right!

I’ll also be taking a break with some ume-kombucha and sweets! When I tried the ume-kombucha, it tasted more of like a soup rather than a tea. There’s also gold leaf inside, and they give the tea a nice, luxurious feeling♪
What do you think? These sweets were purchased at the supermarket. If you’re visiting Japan near the beginning of the new year, please check them out!