Toso (屠蘇), or o-toso, is spiced medicinal sake traditionally drunk during New Year celebrations in Japan.
Toso is drunk to flush away the previous year's maladies and to aspire
to lead a long life. For generations it has been said that "if one
person drinks this his family will not fall ill; if the whole family
does no-one in the village will fall ill", and has been a staple part of
New Year's osechi cuisine in Japan.[1]
Toso is written using two Japanese characters: 蘇 representing evil spirits and 屠 meaning to defeat.
Toso is made by combining several medicinal herbs to form tososan (屠蘇散), a spicy mixture, which is then soaked in sake or mirin. If made with mirin,
essentially a sweet sake, it is suitable for drinking, but using
fermented mirin seasoning would not be appropriate as it is too salty.
Three sizes of cup, called sakazuki (盃)
(see picture), are used starting with the smallest, and passed round
with each family member or guest taking a sip. Drinking rituals differ
by region, but in formal situations would proceed from youngest to
eldest. This tradition originated in China whereby the young effectively
test the drink for toxins. However, in Japan, around the beginning of
the Meiji or Shōwa periods, custom changed and the head of the household usually takes the first drink.
The tradition of drinking toso at the New Year began in the Tang Dynasty in China, and was adopted by Japanese aristocrats during the Heian period. The first cup drunk would be made with tososan, and the second and third cups with different varieties called byakusan and toshōsan.
The drinking ceremony finally passed to the general public and
doctors would give out tososan. Even today some chemists shops have
retained the custom and give tososan away as a free gift at the end of
the year.[1]
The custom is now mainly limited to Kansai and west Japan; in other regions celebratory o-toso at New Year is often plain sake without tososan.
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