Usunekase - Usunekase

...When a new house was built, the mortar was brought into the house first, and in the event of a fire, it was the first to be taken out. When disposing of an old mortar, seven neighboring houses were asked to share it and burn it, and pieces of the stone mortar were thrown onto the roof to ward off fire. At the end of the year, in a ceremony called "Usunose," rice cakes were placed in the mortar and covered with a winnowing basket, and in some places, the winnowing basket is removed and the mortar is lightly pounded with a pestle in a "Usutokoshi" ceremony. During the Little New Year, a mochi flower tree is tied to the stone mortar, and on the fifteenth night of the eighth month, a winnowing basket is placed on the mortar and offerings are made; it was also used for divination, for example, to select a place for the gods to travel by floating the mortar down the river....

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Usunese" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…新築の際には臼を最初に家に入れ，火災の時にはまずはじめに持ち出すこととされ，古臼の処分には近隣7軒に分けてたいてもらったり，石臼の破片は屋根に投げ上げて火事除けとした。年末には〈臼寝せ〉といって，臼に餅を入れて箕で覆っておき，正月の仕事始めにその臼の箕を取り除き杵で軽くたたいて〈臼起し〉を行う所もある。小正月には石臼に餅花の木を結わいつけたり，8月の十五夜には臼に箕をのせて供物を供えるなど神の祭壇とされ，また神のお旅所を選定するのに臼を川に流して決めるなど，卜占にも用いられた。…

※「臼寝せ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報