鏡かがみ開びらき

noun

cutting the New Year's rice cake; kagami-biraki (Jan 11)

A traditional Japanese ceremony held on January 11th (or sometimes later) where a large round rice cake (鏡餅) offered at New Year's is broken or cut into pieces and eaten, often in a sweet red bean soup.

• 鏡かがみ開びらきで割わったお餅もちをぜんざいに入いれて食たべました。

  We put the rice cake broken at the kagami-biraki into sweet red bean soup and ate it.

noun

breaking open a sake cask; ceremonial sake barrel opening

A celebratory custom at weddings, company parties, or other festive events where the wooden lid of a sake barrel is struck open with a mallet and the sake is served to guests.

• 結けっ婚こん式しきの披ひ露ろう宴えんで鏡かがみ開びらきが行おこなわれ、樽たる酒ざけが振ふる舞まわれた。

  At the wedding reception, a kagami-biraki was performed and sake from the barrel was served.