is a traditional

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

ceremony where are broken open. It traditionally falls on January 11 (

odd numbers In mathematics, parity is the property of an integer of whether it is even or odd. An integer is even if it is a multiple of two, and odd if it is not.. For example, −4, 0, 82 are even because \begin -2 \cdot 2 &= -4 \\ 0 \cdot 2 &= 0 \\ 41 ...

are associated with being

good luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

in Japan). The term also refers to the opening of a cask of

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

at a party or ceremony.

History

The fourth Tokugawa ,

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. E ...

, was the first to hold a ceremony 300 years ago. On the eve of war, he gathered his in his castle to break open a sake cask. Upon achieving victory, a new tradition was born.

Ceremony

The ceremony nowadays is also performed at weddings, sporting events, housewarmings, opening days at new companies, and other significant events worthy of being celebrated. In Japan, mochi was traditionally made at home, but most families today buy it ready-made. Over the holidays, a pair of round mochi () the size of small plates – one a little larger than the other – is stacked on a stand and placed in a household

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

or as an offering to the deities that visit on New Year's. The ornamental mochi is removed on January 11 and broken into smaller pieces before being eaten. By this time, the is usually quite brittle, and cracks appear on the surface. The mochi is not cut with a knife, since cutting has negative connotations (cutting off ties) and is instead broken with one's hands or a hammer. Many Japanese martial arts dojo use the ceremony to signify their first practice of the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

. The sake version of the ceremony (based on the original practice) involves presenting a wooden barrel of ("celebration sake") to the celebrants at the beginning of the event. The round, wooden lid of this barrel (representing harmony) is then broken open with wooden mallets handled by VIPs (thus the event breaking open good fortune) and the contents then freely distributed among the participants.

References

{{reflist Japanese culture Sake Ceremonies in Japan January observances Winter events in Japan Japanese words and phrases

History

Ceremony

See also

References