Today I opened the mirror, but "opening the mirror" doesn't mean literally unfolding a mirror. ^^; "The mirror" means a pair of round race cake for New Year (Kagami mochi).
Opening the mirror from an abstinence usually takes place on the January 11 (odd numbers are associated with being good luck in Japan). It is a kind of ritual ceremony. The mochi has been displayed during New Year's days and has gotten very hard. We hammer down the mochi into small pieces. We don't use a knife or use the word "cutting the mirror" because the knife or cutting has negative connotations like "Hara-kiri" (Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment).
I hit mochi many times by hammer because it has not been brittle yet so it bounded like a ball. I've gotten handache. ^^
Ciao.
Comment
sleepy boy
Jan 11th 2010 16:56
"opening the mirror from an abstinence" - not really sure what you mean here?
Or, "because it has not become brittle yet it bounded like a ball."
"I've got a sore hand now." would sound more natural. .
Yumenotenshi07
Jan 11th 2010 18:02
I've heard of "kagami mochi," but I didn't know you break it with a hammer! What an interesting tradition. I was really confused by the term "open the mirror!" Haha. I just had to read and see what it was about.
I'm also a bit confused by what you mean by "after an abstinence," but I thought the sentence was fine without it. Did you want to convey that you had to wait because you aren't allowed to "open the mirror" until a certain time?
~Jala~ //
~ジャラ~
Jan 12th 2010 03:28
A hammer, huh? I didn't know that. Mochi~ (^_^)