Porridge stirrer - kayukakibo

Japanese: 粥かき棒 - かゆかきぼう

…On the morning of January 15th, the Little New Year, when rice porridge is cooked, this stick is used to stir it. It is also called a rice porridge stirrer. Usually, a stick about 3cm thick is cut into about 30cm pieces and the bark is peeled off before use. …

From [Stick]

...In the rituals of hitting fruit trees with this celebratory stick (Nariki-zeme), and in the rituals of children hitting brides on the buttocks while chanting (Yome-uchi-bou) and (Yome-harami-bou), the magical power of the stick to increase production is the background for these practices. The kayu-kaki-bou (rice porridge stick) used for divination of rice porridge is also an example of a celebratory stick for Little New Year, and is descended from kezuke. As in the Onbashira Festival in Suwa, when sticks are erected in the ground, they are especially considered as a place for gods or a world tree, and eventually they are decorated into floats, offerings, flagpoles, etc., and are considered symbols that connect heaven and earth, and gods and people.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "porridge stirrer" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…小正月の1月15日の朝，粥をたくとき，かきまわすのに使う棒。粥かき棒ともいう。普通，太さ3cmほどの木を30cmばかりに切り，皮をむいて使う。…

【棒】より

…この祝棒で果樹を打つ〈成木責め〉，子どもたちが唱え言をいいながら嫁の尻を打つ〈嫁打ち棒〉〈嫁孕（はら）み棒〉などいずれも棒のもつ増産の呪力がその背景にある。また，粥占をするのに使う〈粥かき棒(粥杖)〉も小正月の祝棒の一例で，削掛けの系統をひくものである。　諏訪の御柱（おんばしら）祭と同様に，棒を大地に立てる場合には，とくに神の依代や世界樹として観念され，やがてこれが装飾化されて山鉾，幣束，旗ざおなどとなり，天と地，神と人を結ぶものの象徴と考えられていくのである。…

※「粥かき棒」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

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