On the last day of the year, we prepare for the New Year. All family members clean their house up. We also cook special food, prepare New Year's decorations and flowers etc. Many Japanese eat buckwheat noodles. These noodles are called TOSHIKOSHI SOBA.Toshikoshi means to pass from the old year into the New Year. It is said that this custom has lasted since middle of Edo period. There are many reasons to eat it in each district. Most famous reason is to live long and have a long prosperous household (because soba noodles are long and thin).
To welcome the New Year, JOYA NO KANE is rung in temple at night. This is a rite of Buddhism. This bell is rung 108 times because it is thought that people have 108 worldy desires. Some temples start ringing at 12 o'clock but the others start it between last year and the New Year. However in either case, it is customary to exchange New Year's greetings after the bell is finished ringing.
Ghana is famous as a producing district of cacao. Actually cacao is the most important export from Ghana. Cacao is about half of exports from Ghana. Ghana exports cacao mainly to Holland, Germany, England, France and America.
It's not too much to say that the Ghanaian economy depends on cacao. Ghana is world famous for producing cacao, but the economy of this country is not stable. Why does it happen? There are some reasons. First of all, cacao suffers damage easily from bad weather, disease and harmful insects. So the production is unsettled. Second cacao is people's favorite food. The price varies with demand. To put it another way, the price depends on the world economy. If they have a good crop of cacao, demand for it exceeds supply. However, if the world economy gets worse, the demand decreases and the price goes down. Fluctuation is big. That's why Ghanaian economy which depends on cacao is very unstable.
In Ghana of couse there is domestic chocolate. But to my surprise, in Ghana chocolate is very expensive. A bar of chocolate price is about 200 cedis (cedis is Ghanaian currency). In yen, it is more than 1000 yen (US $8.00). So ordinary people can not afford chocolate easily.
There is also chocolate ice called " Fan Milk ". You know Ghana is a hot country. So there are many kinds of ice. Most popular ice is called "Fan Yogo". It has a strawberry milk flavor. Second is "Fan milk" and "Fan ice". Fan ice has a vanilla flavor. Third is "Tampico" which has an orange taste. Only tampico ice is sold without freezing.