[Daikan and Daikan Egg]

The year is divided into four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), and each season is further divided into six parts: "Nijushisekki," which begins with "Risshun" in early February and ends with "Daikan" around January 20. This year's Daikan falls on January 20, and the 15 days from January 20 to Setsubun on February 3 is known as the "Daikan period," the coldest time of the year when the lowest temperatures are recorded in many areas. Then, around the time of Risshun on February 4, the cold gradually eases and we begin to feel spring in nature and in our daily lives, as we usually do every year.

One of the lucky charms of the Daikan is the "Daikan egg". It refers to eggs born on the first day of the Daikan. In the old days, chickens stored nutrients in their bodies by eating plenty of food before winter, and they often stayed still without laying eggs during the cold winter. Therefore, eggs born around the time of the great cold were precious, and because of their high nutritional value due to the condensation of nutrients, they eventually came to be treated as a good luck charm. Today, however, eggs have been devised so that they do not vary in nutritional value, but because of the remnants of the time when eggs were valuable as a source of nutrition, the Daikan egg is still popular today as a good luck charm for good health, as well as for good luck with money due to the golden yellow color of the yolk of the egg.

If you missed out on eating the Daikan egg on January 20, how about trying an egg dish for good luck during this time of Daikan? Combine smoothly beaten eggs with dashi broth and seasonings, and bake dashimaki in a copper-made tamagoyaki pan. The signature product of Nakamura Douki, which has been making pots and pans in downtown Tokyo for four generations, the tamagoyaki pan is formed from a thick copper sheet and is made by baking tin by hand. The pot has excellent heat conductivity and retention properties, and heat is evenly distributed to prevent uneven browning and scorching. The more you use it, the more it develops its unique flavor and becomes your own personal cooking utensil. We hope to balance our diet with delicious and nutritious egg dishes and welcome the next season in good health.

Nakamura Douki's Tamagoyaki Pan
https://www.shokunin.com/en/nakamuradouki/tamagoyaki.html
Sori Yanagi's Stainless Steel Bowl 13cm
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yanagisori/bowl.html

References
https://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/chapter3/s7.html
https://mi-journey.jp/foodie/85928/
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1312335/1/1 (Utagawa Hiroshige, "Meisho Edo Hyakkei: Asakusa Kinryuzan")