Kagami mochi

Traditional Japanese New Year decoration

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (January 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,804 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:鏡餅]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|ja|鏡餅}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Kagami mochi (鏡餅, "mirror rice cake") is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration. It usually consists of two round mochi (rice cakes),^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] the smaller placed atop the larger, and a daidai (a Japanese bitter orange) with an attached leaf on top. In addition, it may have a sheet of konbu and a skewer of dried persimmons under the mochi. It sits on a stand called a sanpō (三宝) over a sheet called a shihōbeni (四方紅), which is supposed to ward off fires from the house for the following years. Sheets of paper called gohei (御幣) folded into lightning shapes similar to those seen on sumo wrestler's belts are also attached.


Mass-produced kagami mochi rice cakes	A traditionally ornamented kagami mochi


Several sizes and prices of kagami mochi in Tokyo.	Traditionally made kagami mochi

Kagami mochi first appeared in the Muromachi period (14th–16th century). The name kagami ("mirror") is said to have originated from its resemblance to an old-fashioned kind of round copper mirror, which also had a religious significance. The reason for it is not clear. Explanations include mochi being a food for special days,^[2] the spirit of the rice plant being found in the mochi,^[1]^[2] and the mochi being a food which gives strength.^[2]

The two mochi discs are variously said to symbolize the going and coming years,^[2] the human heart,^[2] "yin" and "yang", or the moon and the sun.^[3] The daidai, whose name means "generations",^[4] is said to symbolize the continuation of a family from generation to generation.^[1]

Traditionally, kagami mochi were placed in various locations throughout the house.^[3] Nowadays they are usually placed in a household Shinto altar, or kamidana. They are also placed in the tokonoma, a small decorated alcove in the main room of the home.

Contemporary kagami mochi are often pre-moulded into the shape of stacked discs and sold in plastic packages in the supermarket. A mikan or a plastic imitation daidai is often substituted for the original daidai.

Variations in the shape of kagami mochi are also seen.^[3] In some regions, three layered kagami mochi are also used. The three layered kagami mochi are placed on the butsudan or on the kamidana. There is also a variant decoration called an okudokazari placed in the centre of the kitchen or by the window which has three layers of mochi.^[3]

Kagami mochi are traditionally broken and eaten in a Shinto ritual called kagami biraki (mirror opening) on the second Saturday or Sunday of January. This is an important ritual in Japanese martial arts dojos. It was first adopted into Japanese martial arts when Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, adopted it in 1884, and since then the practice has spread to aikido, karate and jujutsu dojos.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c 鏡餅 (in Japanese). December 12, 2000. Archived from the original on 13 June 2002. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kagami mochi FAQ (in Japanese)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Question and answer on three layered kagami mochi from Tokyo Gas (in Japanese)
^ ^a ^b Kōjien dictionary. Various Japanese dictionaries, including the Kōjien, testify that the kagami mochi has two layers of mochi. Three or more layers is not mentioned.