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The San Francisco Japantown Foundation's annual New Year's fundraiser returns for the first time post-COVID and again features Osechi Ryori, the traditional dishes carefully prepared and presented for the New Year to wish for good health, happiness, and prosperity.

The event is on Thursday, January 4, 2024, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco's Japantown. This special dining experience is made possible through the generous assistance of the owners and chefs at Sanraku, Sushi Ran, Delica, Iichiko, and more. Buy tickets online.

Managing Partner Sean Tamura-Sato and Senior Counsel Donald Tamaki are on the board of directors of the Japantown Foundation. The January 4 event is a special occasion, marking the end of Don's 17 years as Board President, although he will remain on the board.

In December 2006, Don led the formation of the foundation through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank, and Minami Tamaki LLP. Since 2007, the Foundation has raised and issued grants totaling $1,422,700 in support of the Japanese American community.

The Osechi Ryori event is the Japantown Foundation's primary fundraiser and funds the organization's grants to Japantown and Japanese American-related nonprofit organizations.

Osechi Ryori refers to many unique dishes that are prepared once a year to celebrate the New Year. Many of the items require hours of preparation, and are preserved in ways to make sure that they are delicious to eat throughout the first three days of the year–the traditional way of celebrating the Japanese New Year.

From the Japantown Foundation website: “Many of us remember waking up on New Year's Day to have our bowl of ozoni and then patiently wait as all of the other osechi items were unveiled by our grandparents and great grandparents for us to eat. Being able to eat osechi ryori today, however, is a rarity.

“That is one of the reasons the board of the SF Japantown Foundation continues to hold our annual Osechi Ryori event. It allows us to introduce and re-introduce the special food items that are prepared during the New Year that will bring us good luck, good health and prosperity throughout the year.

“With the generous assistance of our restaurant partners, we are able to share authentically prepared osechi dishes that are expressly prepared for the event. We sincerely thank our culinary experts for supporting us in carrying on this important culture and tradition.”

Learn more at https://japantownfoundation.org.