Perhaps the most characteristic item of New Year's are kagami mochi (鏡餅) two round pieces of a chewy material made of rice and called "mochi" ( 餅ή もち) and can be used as the base for various sweets or dishes; "kagami" means "mirror" and allegedly refers to their similarity to the old round mirrors made of polished metal. The two mochi of this set are usually decorated with a tangerine on top and they are opened on January 11 (the opening/breaking is called "kagami-biraki"/鏡開き) and eaten grilled -there are available in many sizes but these are the smaller, cheaper and most common.
(For a bigger version of these pictures both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr).
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