Kagami-biraki (opening of a sake barrel)

This is a ceremony in which New Year's Kagami mochi (rice cakes with a mirror) are taken down and eaten. It is also called Okyou-biraki (opening of offerings), Okyou-kuzushi (breaking of offerings), Kagami-wari (breaking of mirror), etc. Currently it is held on January 11th, but previously it was generally held on the 20th. One theory is that it was brought forward to the 11th because the anniversary of the death of the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu, falls on the 20th. In the samurai class, it is called Gusoku-biraki (opening of armor), and the Gusoku mochi offered on the armor and helmet are taken down and eaten as zoni (a soup with rice cakes). Women did the same with Kagami mochi offered on a dressing table. Samurai celebrated by calling it Hatsu-ka (handle of the blade) and women by calling it Hatsu-o (first face), which is a play on words that matches the twentieth day with the most important tool for each. In recent years, this has been carried over to the winter training of martial arts, and on the day that it is over, it is common to make a sweet soup with Kagami mochi and eat it. It is taboo to cut Kagami mochi with a blade, so it is broken by chipping it with your hand or hitting it with a mallet. The word "opening" is auspicious. Kagami mochi was originally a ritual associated with rice cultivation, and was probably an offering to Toshigami, the god of agriculture. Taking it down and eating it would have signified the end of the New Year's festival, but perhaps due to confusion with the calendar, or perhaps due to the word's connotation of opening, it is often interpreted as the start of work, and it is sometimes held on the 2nd or 4th. The 11th, which is currently considered the day for Kagami opening, also coincides with the day for storehouse opening, which marks the start of work for merchants.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正月の鏡餅(かがみもち)を下げて食べる儀式。お供え開き、お供えくずし、鏡割りなどともいう。現在は1月11日、以前は20日が一般的であった。徳川の3代将軍家光(いえみつ)の忌日が20日であるため、11日に繰り上げられたという説がある。武家では具足(ぐそく)開きといい、鎧兜(よろいかぶと)に供えた具足餅を下ろして雑煮にして食べた。婦人は鏡台に供えた鏡餅を同様にして食べた。武士は刃柄(はつか)を、婦人は初顔(はつかお)というように、それぞれもっとも重視する道具と二十日(はつか)との語呂(ごろ)合せを祝った。近来は武道の寒稽古(かんげいこ)に引き継がれ、終わった日に鏡餅で汁粉をつくって食べることが多い。鏡餅は刃物で切ることを忌み、手で欠いたり槌(つち)でたたいたりして割る。開くというのは縁起を担いで、めでたいことばを使ったものである。鏡餅は本来、稲作に伴う儀礼で、農耕神としての歳神（年神）(としがみ)への供物であったろう。それを下ろして食べることは、正月の祭りの終わりを意味するものであったはずであるが、暦の混乱のためか、あるいは開くという語感から転じたものか、むしろ仕事始めの意味に解する場合が多く、期日も2日や4日に行う例がある。現在鏡開きの日とされている11日も、商家の仕事始めにあたる蔵開きの日と一致する。

［井之口章次］

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