One food related holiday tradition in Japan is Kagamimochi (pictured left). These are set in the entrance of homes and work places from New Year's until the January 11th. Most are plastic but contain mochi (rice which has been pounded into a sticky paste). On January 11th, you open the kagamimochi, prepare it in some way (with sweetened soy beans to the right) and eat it. This is called kagamibaraki.
Literally, kagamimochi (鏡餅) means "mirror mochi" and kagamibaraki (鏡開き) means "opening of the mirror".
