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...The formalization of this meal is the New Year's meal for guests. Today, the Horai decorations, which are decorated with rice, abalone, and chestnuts, are often placed at the entrance or tokonoma and considered New Year decorations, but in northern Niigata Prefecture, for example, they are called otekake, and the New Year's guests who visit one after another still have the custom of holding the sanpo offered to them with the words "otekake please," and eating it with their right hand up, up to their eyes. In addition to this idea of ​​eating together, the Japanese act of courteously entertaining guests is also considered to be related to the tradition of hospitality for outsiders, who are treated as if they were the incarnations of gods visiting from afar. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "otekake" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…この接待の食事が形式化したものに年始客の食摘みがある。今日では三方（さんぼう）に米，熨斗鮑（のしあわび），勝栗などをあしらった蓬萊飾りは，玄関や床の間に置かれ正月の装飾品とみられがちであるが，たとえば新潟県北部ではこれをお手掛けと呼び，次々と訪れる年始回りの客は〈お手掛けくだされ〉と差し出されたこの三方を，右手を上にして目の上まで頂くまねをする習慣が残っている。こうした共食の観念のほかに，日本人の客を丁重にもてなす行いは，〈まれびと〉をさながら遠方から来訪する神の化現のようにみなす外者歓待の伝統ともかかわっていると解されている。…

※「お手掛け」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報