Red traditional sake set with hammer and spoon – 18 x 17.5 cm

Product description

Kagami-biraki is a ceremony performed at festive occasions where the lid of the sake barrel is broken open by a wooden hammer and then served to all attendees.

Kagami refers to the lid of the sake barrel and biraki means “open,” so kagami-biraki literally means “opening the lid.” Due to the round shape of the lid, the kagami is a symbol of harmony.

Therefore, kagami-biraki symbolizes an opening to harmony and happiness.

The origin of the sake barrel kagami-biraki is said to trace back to another type of kagami-biraki involving mochi, or “soft round rice cakes,” which is performed on the first working day of the new year or the beginning of events.

In the past, samurai households would make an offering on New Year’s of a stack of mochi to the kagami to represent the gods.

Even today, the mochi is cut into pieces to symbolize “opening” and eaten on January 11th; most households and offices observe this custom by placing kagami-mochi on their kamidana (a small Shinto altar usually set on a shelf above a lintel) on New Year’s.

Both types of kagami-biraki – breaking open a sake barrel for Shinto blessings and celebrations, and cutting kagami-mochi – are ways to pray to the gods for good health and happiness at significant times, such as the new year or the start of a new chapter in life or business.

For these reasons, kagami-biraki is becoming an increasingly popular tradition.