New Year food

I'll be in Tokyo from 12/22 - 12/27. I adore Japanese culture and food. Can anyone suggest any special Japanese food that only appears in New Year and I can easily find in the supermarket. I want to take it home, so it had better be uncooked. Thank you.

Japanese New Year food is osechi ryori:
http://www.google.com/search?q=osechi+ryori

Japanese New Year food is "osechi ryori," but it's nothing you can take home - it's either home-cooked, or people place reservations for pick-up/delivery on the 31st so it will hit the table on the New Year's day.

cabochard,

New Year food can certainly be taken home and are sold at supermarkets, but I'm not sure how much will be sold on the 27th. Everyone do their shopping mainly during Dec. 29-31 to eat during Jan. 1-3.

I also don't quite understand what you mean by "uncooked." Typically, those who prefer to eat home-made simply buy ordinary vegetables and fish and cook them according to special New Year recipes. In other words, the "uncooked" are nothing special.

Thank you all of you for the information. Osechi ryori looks absolutely fantastic. I was in Tokyo around Christmas last year, and I saw some rice cake and treats which I hadn't seen before, I thought there might be other special food that I could find in the supermarket. For example, during this time of the year, you can find gingerbread houses, candy canes, fruit cakes,etc. throughout American supermarkets. What special food can I find in Japanese supermarket at this time of the year? Once again thank you for taking your time.

cabochard,

As Uji pointed out, "osechi-ryori" is another way of saying "New Year's food specialities." And of course, there are various ready-made osechi sold at supermarkets. Perhaps it would be easier to understand for you if I narrow it down to one website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi

Most of osechi-ryori is made saltier or sweeter than usual food so that it would last during the 3 day New Year holiday (until the mid 80s, all shops used to close during this period and you couldn't find fresh food). They wouldn't last for months as fruit cake would, but if you purchase the vacuum-packed ones, it would be easier for you to take them back home on your flight. I'm not sure about custom regulations, though. You need to check that with your country.

Go to Mitsuwa Supermarket on the River Road, Edgewater:
http://www.mitsuwanj.com/en/contact.htm
It used to be called Yaohan.
They should be taking orders for Osechi-Ryori now. Also they should have other NY food items of any kinds available in Japan.