Fish taste start - Manahajime

Japanese: 魚味始 - まなはじめ

It is also written as Manahajime or Manahajime, and is also called Uo-mi no Iwai or simply Uo-mi. Ma is a beautiful title and Na means fish. This is one of the rites of passage that took place in the court aristocratic society of the Heian period, and refers to a ceremony in which a child is given animal foods such as fish or bird meat for the first time. The standard age was 20 months after birth, but in reality it varied from 11, 13, 15, 19, or 25 months, and there are also cases where the child was given food of animal origin by the Japanese age reckoning. Sea bream was used as the fish. One person holds the child in his arms, and another person first soaks the child in sea bream, then rice, then the marinade, or one chopstick of grilled sea bream, then one chopstick of pheasant, then two chopsticks of rice marinade.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

真菜始，真魚始とも書き，魚味の祝とも，略して魚味ともいう。マは美称，ナは魚の意。平安朝の宮廷貴族社会で行われた通過儀礼の一つで，小児に初めて魚鳥の肉などの動物性食品を与える儀式をいう。誕生後20ヵ月というのが一応の標準だったらしいが，実際には11ヵ月，13ヵ月，15ヵ月，19ヵ月，25ヵ月などいろいろで，数え年3歳という例もみられる。魚としては鯛が用いられた。1人が小児を抱きかかえ，別の役がまず鯛を含ませ，次に御飯，次に漬汁，あるいは焼鯛1箸，次に雉（きじ）を1箸，次に御飯を汁物に漬けたもの2箸などの例がみられる。

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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