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#kagami mochi
my-plastic-life · 3 months
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It's January 11, which means it's time for kagami biraki!
To conclude the Japanese New Year celebrations, kagami biraki, literally meaning "opening the mirror" or breaking of the mochi, is typically held on January 11. The term "kagami" translates to "mirror," and "biraki" means "opening" or "to break." The ceremony involves removing the round-shaped mochi from the family altar and breaking them into smaller pieces before cooking them in dessert or soup to enjoy. Eating the mochi symbolizes a prayer for health and good fortune in the New Year.
To break open the ornamental mochi, one should never cut it with a knife. The action is a reminder of ritual disembowelment from ancient times, and it is considered a sign of bad luck. For that reason, the customary way to break the mochi is with a wooden hammer or with one’s hands. These days, it's very common for people to buy a plastic decorative kagami mochi at a store, which the small mochi pieces are inside.
Kiku has prepared the mochi for the ceremonial opening - she even found a large wooden hammer like in ancient times. :D
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After the mochi is broken open, it's customary to cook the smaller pieces in dessert or soup. A common dish is zenzai, which is red bean soup with mochi. That's what Kiku went for this year!
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Time to enjoy that soup! Mmmm
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studioappeltjesgroen · 3 months
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Happy froggy new year!
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hochulia · 1 year
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Year of the cat
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nora-yoko · 1 year
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soanja-c · 1 year
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gaystims · 21 days
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Pekkle vs Kagami mochi by puroland_global
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mityfresh · 1 year
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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gachagachaart · 1 year
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joyousnudibranch · 1 year
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The beginning of a new year is like the beginning of a new chapter of life. It is time to put some things in the past and start anew. Probably it’s a universal custom to wish good luck for the fresh start of the year. And people must be doing that in many different ways in different parts of the world. Different things must be associated with good luck and happiness because of their shape, color and names. Here in Japan, people customarily relate lots of things in nature to good luck. Perhaps that is due to Shinto, the “indigenous faith” of this country. According to the faith, there are many deities residing in nature. Thus, ancient people might have seen the potentials in certain plants and animals in nature to mediate between human wishes and the deities.
Of course Japanese people today do not literally believe in the magical power of the deities and good luck charms. But they are still inclined to follow the custom just in case there is some unnatural power beyond our scientific knowledge. In rural areas, you can still find traditional customs that were lost in big cities decades ago. My hometown is no exception. For many grandpas here, getting correct plants for New Year’s decoration has the highest priority at the end of the year. For many grandmas, failing to buy certain food ingredients for New Year’s feast is a horrible mistake that they should avoid at all costs.
For those who may be interested in such Japanese traditions, let me share some of our family tradition of New Year’s celebration as of 2023.
The God of New Year – also the God of Agriculture – is said to visit every household on the New Year’s Day to stay for a certain period to give blessing for the whole year. This ornament is placed at the entrance to show him the way into the house.
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This ornament, shimenawa is typically made with rice straw rope, ferns and an orange. And all of them are associated with good luck.
The rice straw is considered sacred because rice is the staple food here. The ferns have to be a special kind with leaves with white back. The white color is associated with gray hair, sybolizing “longevity.” The kind of orange used for this is “daidai orange” because “daidai” also means “from generation to generation” in Japanese language. Thus, this orange is associated with ”family prosperity.” To welcome the God of New Year, light is lit at the Shinto altar in the house on the night of New Year’s Eve.
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The altar is decorated with sacred rice straw ropes, talisman, rice cakes and offerings of sake, rice, salt and water.
The God is said to come onto this ornament with two big rice cakes. So it must be placed at the alcove beforehand.
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When I was a child, we made these rice cakes at home by pounding glutinous rice with mortar and pestle. They usually got hard and moldy in several days so we had to soak them in water and scrape off the moldy parts to eat them. Now we buy individually-wrapped small rice cakes in a plastic container which looks like two-tiered big rice cakes.
At midnight, as soon as the date turns to Jan. 1st, I go to this old, small shrine in my neighborhood for the first shrine visit of the year. My parents go to bed early, so I need to be there on behalf of them to pray for our family’s happiness and safety in the new year.
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On Jan. 1st, I wake up early to see (and take photos of) the first sunrise of the year. This sunrise is considered to be special and give you blessing for the new year.
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When my parents get up at around 10 am, it is time for a traditional ceremony to celebrate the New Year.
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Before Meiji Restoation (1868), all people in Japan celebrated their birthdays on the same day, January 1st. So on New Year’s Day, they performed a ritual to celebrate getting one year older.
Now everyone in this country celebrates birthday independently on each person’s date of birth. But in some rural areas, people still do the ritual as a tradition on Jan. 1st and so does my family.
The most important object of the ceremony is this ornament called yone. It is literally an aggregation of ingredients symbolizing good luck.
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The container is filled with raw rice, the staple food of this country. It is of special importance because it sustains people’s lives.
All the toppings are associated with good luck. Sliced mochi (rice cake) is sacred food made from the staple food. Daidai orange symbolizes “family prosperity” for the reason mentioned above. Thinly-cut kobu (kelp) symbolizes happiness and joy, with its pronunciation being similar to a Japanese word yorokobu, meaning “feeling happy.” Kachiguri (dried chestnuts which look like almonds in this photo) is associated with “victory” because kachi means "winning."  Hoshigaki (dried persimmon) means longevity because persimmon trees live long and the Kanji characters for its name can be replaced with other characters meaning “bringing happiness.” Sprouting taro symbolizes ”prosperity of descendants” because it produces lots of tubers. Evergreen pine sprig is associated with “longevity.”  Bamboo symbolizes “strength and sincerity” because it stays green in winter. And plum, which blooms earlier than others, is a symbol of “bright future.”
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Family members gathered in the formal guest room take seats in front of the alcove and pass this ornament around. Starting with the head of the family, each person holds it with both hands a little higher than his/her head to thank God for their becoming one year older and pray for family’s happiness.
Then the person takes a sip of otoso, sake which is supposed to share some magical power of the God of the New Year. After purifying the body with the sacred sake, eating one piece of dried and grilled squid follows.
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After the sake ritual, it is time for tasting zoni, rice cake soup. It is still part of the ritual, so only a small portion is served.
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Our family’s zoni is VERY different. Usually some kind of vegetable is included in this soup. But our zoni has threaded kelp, yellowtail and rice cake cubes. That’s it. And lots of yellowtail bones are used for taking the broth. When my sister’s husband from a different prefecture tasted our zoni soup for the first time, he was almost overwhelmed by the strong fish flavor.
When I was a child, my mom put kimono (national traditional costume for formal occasions) on my sister and I for this special ceremony. And I was allowed to put some lipstick on only for the ceremony. Because of that, my lips felt strange while I was eating the zoni soup, but it felt very special. The ceremony takes place in a traditional Japanese style room. Basically family members have seats on the cushions placed on the tatami floor. It is not very comfortable, honestly speaking, so as soon as the rituals are done, my family always rush to the dining room. There, comfortably sitting in chairs, we enjoy osechi (New Year’s feast) with a bowlful of warmed zoni soup. And again, almost all foods are associated with good things like prosperity, health, longevity and good luck. Again, it is like all kinds of wishes packed in tiered lacquer food boxes.
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So what do you think? The whole thing is an overwhelming degree of wish-making, isn’t it? Here people embody lots of wishes in so many ways. Living in a country prone to natural disasters may be part of the reason why.
Now everyone in Japan is educated with modern science. Younger generations do not literally believe in superstitions and/or traditional religious customs coming from Shinto and Buddhism. But still, people here seem to be trying to maintain the good thoughts underlying all the wish-making. And for me, wishing happiness for loved ones is not the matter of being scientific vs unscientific any more.
If making one’s wishes visible and touchable makes people stronger, more hopeful and motivated, maybe it is a wisdom rather than a blind obedience to unscientific nonsense.  And traditional customs give the elderly something to pass down to the youth and make them feel being part of a big continuum. That’s the way I see this whole thing.
There is a beauty in it, I think …                 unless you become a slave of the tradition. ***********************
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aishiteru-kenshin · 1 year
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Japanese New Year Tradition: Kagami Mochi
Kagami mochi, which translates directly to “mirror rice cake,” consists of two round mochi piled on top of one another. The mochi on top is usually slightly smaller, and has a daidai – bitter orange – placed on top. Sometimes a piece of konbu (seaweed) and a skewer of dried persimmon fruits are placed at the base of the mochi structure. In some regions, three levels of mochi are used. The stand on which the kagami mochi stands is called a sanpo, and the sheet on which it rests is called a shihobeni. The sheet is thought to have powers that ensure no fires will occur in the house for the following year. Sometimes there are also sheets of paper (gohei) folded into the shape of lightning, that are also attached to the structure. The mochi rounds are referred to as mirrors because they are meant to represent the duality of the following year. Some of these dual forces that are represented by the mochi are yin and yang, the moon and the sun, or the continuation of families throughout generations. Kagami mochi are usually placed in a small Shinto altar, created within a family’s home. Some homes also have a tokonoma, or a small Shinto shrine alcove or cabinet. Nowadays, supermarkets will sell kagami mochi that are pre-formed and wrapped in hard plastic in the shape of the kagami mochi, with a plastic daidai on top. Usually, the kagami mochi structure is taken apart and eaten on the second weekend in January. This tradition is called kagami biraki – which translates to  “mirror opening.” This beautiful imagery is meant to bestow family-related luck on the eaters of the mochi.
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cucumber-pictures · 1 year
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Happy New Year! (Don’t forget to eat your kagami mochi!)
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my-plastic-life · 1 year
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During the Japanese New Year, kagami-mochi (also called "mirror rice cakes") is displayed inside the house. This is a stack of two round rice cakes (the smaller on top of the larger) with a bitter orange on top. The mochi is displayed inside the house to invoke the gods to protect the house from burning in the coming year. The mochi is usually placed in a household Shinto altar or in a small decorated alcove in the main room of the home. On Jan. 7, the ornament is broken open with a hammer in a ritual called kagami biraki (mirror opening). This is the day when the new year deity is believed to depart from their new year visit.
Kiku placed her kagami mochi next to her shrine, and she's paying respects before partaking in the ritual. Now she has her hammer and is ready for the mochi! And yes, she's still wearing her Year of the Rabbit shirt. :D
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rumade · 1 year
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For this new years my fiancé and I made kagami mochi; a traditional food decoration.
The mochi is easy to make- 1 cup glutinous rice flour + 2 tablespoons of sugar + 3/4 cup of water. Whisk well to combine then microwave for 1 minute 30, mix, 30 secs, mix, 30 secs; until it makes a thick gloopy dough. Then mix vigorously until it looks glossy. It will still be sticky- dust a work surface with starch then plop out the mochi and dust the top well. Divide in a 60/40 ratio, then pat into round shapes and stack.
Finally garnish with a citrus fruit, preferably with the leaf still attached. The traditional fruit is called a daidai.
You're then supposed to use the mochi in traditional new years foods!
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sakuraminka · 3 months
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Kobayashi Issa・Kagami mochi・Mirror Rice Cake
Kobayashi Issa’s Haiku of the Day小林一茶の今日の俳句 庵の夜はしんそこ寒ししん~と Haiku Classification SeasonShinnen (New Year)「新年(しんねん)」 CategoryJinji (Human Affairs)「人事(じんじ)」 Kigo (Seasonal Word) Kagami mochi (Mirror Rice Cake)「鏡餅(かがみもち)」 Original Haiku お袋がお福手ちぎる指南哉 おふくろが おふくでちぎる しなんかな o-fukuro ga o-fukute o chigiru shinan kana Word-for-Word Breakdown 袋が (O-fukuro ga) お袋 (O-fukuro) mother (informal term…
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laur-kay · 3 months
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Alternative Color Versions of my artwork “Kagami Mochi” I love that just with those filters I was able to change the chill vibe to haunted murder house. Which one is your favorite?
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