Japanese New Year Decoration, Kagami Mochi

Kagami mochi is an important traditional new year’s food in Japan

The Meaning of New Year’s Mochi (Rice Cake)

Mochi is a type of traditional Japanese rice cake made by pounding steamed sticky rice grains into a paste using a wooden mallet called “kine”.

Making mochi is putting whole rice grains in a Usu (a large bowl of wood/stone) and are pounded into a paste using a kine.

This Japanese rice cake dish is a traditional food item used to celebrate New Year in Japan. Consisting of two layers of round rice cakes topped with a small mandarin, this custom has been practiced since the Heian era.

This tradition is quite unique. It is one that is still heavily celebrated today, even if lifestyles have differed greatly since. Kagami mochi means mirror rice cake where ‘Kagami’ means ‘mirror’ and ‘mochi’ means ‘rice cake’. However, there is a deeper significance to why the word ‘mirror’ is used in its naming.

It is often said that the stacked rice cakes resemble a bronze mirror. The household item was considered a treasure in ancient Japan. Nowadays, most stores would sell individually packed Kagami mochi. They would come along with a decorated stand ‘sanpō’ ready to be put on display.

Along with a mandarin, the traditional cake is most often decorated with colorful paper, ferns, and dried kelp. The mandarin, ‘dai-dai’, is used to give hope and prosperity to future descendants. Meanwhile, kelp and konbu sound like the Japanese word, ‘yorokobu’. It means ‘being happy’ and is used as a lucky charm.

Kagami Biraki is a tradition translated as ‘opening the mirror’. The Japanese celebrate it as an offering to their gods and Hotokesama (buddha). It traditionally falls on the 11th day of the new year, a good luck number in Japan. This is the day when the Kagami mochi can be broken and eaten. However, eating the rice cake earlier can anger the Kamisama, which refers to God in Japan.

Traditional Japanese believe that Kamisama’s power resides in the rice cake. Therefore, one should not break into it with a knife. Instead, they should use a wooden hammer or break it with their bare hands.

Moreover, they recommend eating the traditional snack on Kagami Biraki. Old folks say that this practice will prevent any sicknesses or accidents to come upon you that year.

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