The popular picture book “Osechi,” which has sold over 120,000 copies, is now available in English! The picture book “OSECHI” will be published on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

The hugely popular picture book “Osechi,” which has sold over 120,000 copies, is now available in English! Picture book “OSECHI” Published on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 ​
Fukuinkan Shoten Co., Ltd. Press release: October 8, 2025 To Members of the Press The hugely popular picture book “Osechi,” which has sold over 120,000 copies, is now available in English! Picture book “OSECHI” to be published on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 Published in response to requests for an English version! Fukuinkan Shoten Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Junichi Sato) has released “OSECHI – Food for the New Year,” a beautiful picture book introducing the traditional Japanese food of osechi ryori in English (written and illustrated by Yumi Uchida, with English text by Kuniko Mitsudome). Cooking (supervised by Yasuko Miura) will be published on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
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Published in the January 2024 issue of the monthly picture book magazine “Kodomo no Tomo for All Ages,” the picture book “Osechi” (New Year’s Food) introduces traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes one by one with beautiful, realistic illustrations, while conveying the wishes embedded in them. It received a great response immediately after its release. When the hardcover version was published in November 2024, it again generated a great deal of buzz, with over 120,000 copies in circulation in one year. The newly published “OSECHI – Food for the New Year” is the English version of “Osechi.” The text for the English version was written by Arthur Binard, who is active throughout Japan as a writer of poetry, essays, and fiction, as well as a radio personality and talk show host. While preserving the rhythmic style of the Japanese version, the book uses free
translations that broaden the meaning and make it easier for readers overseas to understand, such as expressing “Sweet black beans shine like precious jewels” instead of “shiny, sweet black beans.” At the end of the book, there are annotations for each osechi ryori dish. This book is perfect not only for enjoying osechi ryori from a different perspective (in English), but also for introducing osechi ryori, a part of Japanese food culture, to people from overseas. ■Work summary Book title: “OSECHI – Food for the New Year” Author: Yumi Uchida (Text and Illustrations) / Arthur Binard (English Text) Cooking by Kuniko Mitsutome / Supervised by Yasuko Miura Publication Date: October 22, 2025 Price: ¥1,760 (tax included) Size: 20 x 27 cm Number of pages: 36 Description: This is the English version of the picture book “Osechi,” which beautifully illustrates each New Year’s dish and conveys the wishes that are embedded within it. Thanks to your support, the picture book “Osechi” has been extremely well-received, and we have received many requests to share it with foreigners. We have now published an English version so that it can be used by people overseas and in international exchange events. The English translation was done by Arthur Binard, a poet fluent in both English and Japanese. Each dish is accompanied by an annotation at the end of the book.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/125339/27/125339-27-8537f13a389d43aba4bc56c17f99e7ac-3900×1393.jpg For more information about this release