A SPECIAL REPORT: MULTICULTURAL HOLIDAYS

FEAST ON THE FIRST: Shinnen akemashite omedeto gozamasu means “Happy New Year” in Japanese, and that means lots of food. . . . For Orange County’s 30,000 Japanese-Americans, New Year’s is spent wishing for good luck by eating such traditional foods as sweet black beans, sushi, mochi (pounded rice cakes) in a broth called zoni , cooked seaweed and pickled vegetables. . . . “Usually in Japan, the mother does not want to cook on New Year’s Day and she makes some of the food in advance and puts it in an oseshi (wooden) box,” says Mikio Tomioka, a manager at a Japanese restaurant.